80-20's elected Delegates, composed of 1/3 Republicans, 1/3 Democrats and 1/3 Independents, unanimously voted to "endorse , with reservation, Senator John Kerry for President." Their reasons are seen in the press release appended at the end.
In spirit, the "endorsement with reservation" means the following. 80-20 sends a clear message to all politicians & political parties: "If you want AsAms' votes and money, you need to earn it. No more free lunch."
In pragmatic terms for Asian Americans, the "endorsement with reservation" means the following: 80-20 still STRONGLY recommends that AsAms vote for Kerry. However, the 80-20 National will not be going all out in applying its resources to campaign for Kerry. The National will divert part of its war chest for a lawsuit against the Department of Labor which will better serve our community's interest. However, we'll still be doing a lot for Senator Kerry**.
In pragmatic terms for the Kerry campaign, the "endorsement with reservation" may imply the following: A recent poll showed the choice of Kerry/Bush among AsAms is 43/36, with 20% undecided. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-asianvote15sep15,15189204.story?coll=la-headlines-nation,5189204.story?coll=la-headlines-nation . Having endorsed Kerry/Edwards, 80-20 predicts that by election time, we'll
increase Kerry's current 7 point lead to at least 30 among AsAms. However, had 80-20 decided on a full endorsement two weeks ago, it would have delivered 80% of the Asian American votes, resulting in a 60 point margin of victory for Kerry among AsAms.
In summary, 80-20's decision achieves three goals. a) To let President Bush and the Republican Party know that if you don't help us, we don't help you. b) To let Senator Kerry and the Democratic Party know that you had helped us some and we'll help back some. c) To let both parties know that 80-20 has tremendous ability to deliver Asian Am. votes. If the two Parties don't believe it now, on election day they'll find out the 80-20's "endorsement with reservation" would increase Senator Kerry's current 7-point lead to at least 30 among Asian Am. voters. Imagine, what they could have gained, had they earned 80-20's FULL endorsement!
**80-20 National will still focus in a couple of contested states to try to win electoral votes for Senator Kerry. We'll still do TV and newspaper ads. The ads will still be in four languages: English, Korean, Vietnamese & Chinese. However, given the delay of two weeks in getting all such efforts started and the allocation of fewer resources, the amount of the buy and the length of air time will obviously not be as large.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 2, 2004)
Contact Person: S. B. Woo, (302) 366 0259
Largest Asian American PAC Endorses, with Reservation,
John Kerry for President
80-20, a National cyberspace organization capable of reaching 70% of Asian American (AsAm) registered voters in 30 hours, announced today, with reservation, to endorse Senator John Kerry for President. This decision was unanimously made by 1/3 Republicans, 1/3 Independents, and 1/3 Democrats, 2 weeks after its Endorsement Convention in San Mateo voted to postpone a decision.
A recent poll showed the choice of Kerry/Bush among AsAms is 43/36, with 20% undecided. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-asianvote15sep15,1,5189204.story?coll=la-headlines-nation . Having endorsed Kerry/Edwards, 80-20 predicts that by election time, we'll increase Kerry's current 7 point lead to at least 30.
Had 80-20 decided on a full endorsement two weeks ago, it would have delivered 80% of the Asian American votes, resulting in a 60 point margin for Kerry. 80-20 is sending a clear message to all politicians and political parties: "if you want AsAms' votes and money, you need
to earn it. No more free lunch!"
Senator Kerry was given the nod because, in comparison, he and the Democratic party are better than Bush and the Republican Party for the past 4 years. Here are the comparisons:
A) Senators Kerry and Edwards both promised in writing to help AsAms achieve equal opportunity in workplaces through the enforcement of Executive Order 11246, while Mr. Bush did not. http://www.80-20initiative/preselect.html EO 11246 has been enforced to break the glass ceiling for African Americans, women, Latinos, Native Americans, but not for Asian Americans.
B) Kerry & Edwards sided with AsAms in condemning Congressman Howard Coble, Chair, House Subcommittee on Homeland Security. Coble stated in public on Feb. 4, 2003 that internment of Japanese Americans during WWII was for protecting Japanese Ams. AsAms would be most worried by that type of protection should there be a significant conflict between USA and an Asian nation. In contrast, Bush & Cheney were silent. See Kerry and Edward statements:
http://www.80-20initiative.net/Kerry.html , and
http://www.80-20initiative.net/Edwards.html
C) The Democratic Party's position on immigration policy and anti-hate crime policy is better for all minorities including AsAms.
80-20 will divert a part of its election war chest to its pending lawsuit against the Department of Labor for its non-enforcement of Executive Order 11246 for AsAms.
In 2000, 80-20 endorsed Gore, and delivered nationally "more than 2 of every three votes" to him, according to a very large national survey of how Asian Americans voted, partially sponsored by the National Science Foundation (http://www.80-20initiative.net/PNAAPs.html ) 80- 20 is rated as one of the two most effective cyberspace organizations in the 2000 election, by a book published by three Syracuse University professors (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813340055/qid=1025198992/ref==sr_1/104-2670764-6623936 ).
To know more about 80-20, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net
