Why Indian Americans MUST vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
In times as polarized as these, most of you have already made up your mind. But maybe you’re still not sure which candidate you’ll vote for — or whether you’ll vote at all. Maybe you’re tired of the direction we’re headed, but you can’t see a better path yet, or you just don’t know enough about the person who wants to lead us there.
To my Indian American friends, who are leaning toward voting for Trump — STOP RIGHT THERE. YOU SHOULD NOT
It's totally fine to have ideology in oneself and vote Republican or Democrat. But as a person with heart and humanity, there’s no way someone can vote Trump.
“If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power”
In 2016, I understand people want to give him a chance as “never politician, businessman” and someone who can bring his real-estate negotiation skills, business skills to “Make America Great Again”.
For the sake of our country, that Donald Trump never showed any interest in taking the job seriously; he never came to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.
For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.
Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 231,924 (as of Oct 27 2020) Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.
Trump is a Bigly Liar
Donald Trump — who averages 23 lies a day and is the world’s greatest superspreader of coronavirus conspiracies — has caught the virus himself. He has a dutiful ally in Facebook — the greatest propaganda machine in history. And this is a time when Americans are especially vulnerable to lies and conspiracies. This trifecta has created a whirlwind of conspiratorial madness.
Trump is anti-free press, anti-immigrant and racist. He enriches himself over others at any cost, including your health and our economy and the truth.
Is Donald Trump really a “true friend” of India? Or even a friend of Modi?
NO. Let us understand that Donald Trump is not a friend of anyone. He only has friendships (or even marriages) of convenience. Ask a multitude of his supporters and the so called friends such as but not limited to Jeff Sessions (former US Senator and US Attorney General), Rex Tillerson (former US Secretary of State), Michael Cohen (his former friend, attorney and a “fixer”, serving 3 years prison) and many more people that he has discarded since he became President. Other friends of Trump or associates convicted of crimes are Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, George Nader, George Papadopoulos.
So why didn’t you get the world… China sends up real dirt into the air. Russia does. India does. They all do.
You don’t know how many people died in India. They don’t exactly give you a straight count, just so you understand.
look at India, it’s filthy, the air is filthy.
— Trump on India during the 2 Presidential Debates. This is who Trump is. He’s no friend of India.
Trump has proven himself to be the antithesis of thoughtful and pragmatic; he has failed to earn a second term.
NOW YOU SHOULD Vote for Joe and Kamala — For that empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts
Joe always felt deeply connected to the Indian American community because of the values: duty to family and elders, treating people with respect and dignity, self-discipline, service, and hard work. Those shared values, that immigrant story, forged long lasting relationship with Indian American constituents in Delaware and with Indian American staff both in the United States Senate and in the Obama-Biden Administration.
Building this country up sits squarely within the skill set of Joe Biden. Mr. Biden is caring, compassionate and professional public servant. He has repeatedly expressed his desire to be a president for all of America. Joe Biden may not be the president we want, but in 2020 he is the president we desperately need. He will be a president to bring people together and right the ship of state.
Joe Biden’s policies will spend on government programs that make this country a more fair place, paying for it with higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
The most critical trait of any American Leader is empathy. Empathy cares for the underprivileged, the environment, the press, the constitution, veterans.
Joe Biden radiates EMPATHY. Joe Biden is the right side of history.
Kamala is smart, tested, and prepared. But another thing that makes Kamala so inspiring is her mother, Shyamala Gopalan. We feel Kamala’s pride when she talks about her. She was from Chennai, where her father, Kamala’s grandfather, was active in the fight for Indian independence. She was a diligent science student in the late 1950s, when she set out for America on her own, at 19, to study nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley where she eventually earned a doctorate. Kamala’s mother went on to become a leader in breast cancer research in the Bay Area, where Kamala and her sister Maya were born and raised.
When we hear people say “we need a leader like the one in New Zealand — Jacinda Ardern”, there she is. Kamala Harris has similar traits energy, passion, empathy and drive. This is your chance to show that you want a leader of this type. Even though Biden is in charge, Harris is right there, and she is a legend.
The selection of California senator Kamala Harris for the Democrats’ vice-presidential nomination puts a woman of colour on a major party ticket for the first time in America’s 244-year-old history.
It makes it look more like America. It makes it more like the America that we are becoming than the other party which looks more like the America we once were, or the America that many think we once were.
Harris is now better placed than anyone to be America’s first female president, a glass ceiling that Hillary Clinton did not manage to shatter in 2016.
It’s not everything. It’s not the crushing of racism + sexism. It’s not the freeing of Black womanhood. But it can be the start.
VOTE, VOTE and VOTE
There’s a lot at stake in this election. From getting this pandemic under control to building a fairer economy to taking on climate change and protecting our health care, your vote can make all the difference.
Participate and vote. It’s not always pretty — trust me, I know. But it’s how, bit by bit, we’ve made progress over generations. Go to iwillvote.com to make your plan, then get some friends to join you. Let’s go. Election day is only a week away November 3, 2020.
Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.
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