Just one week left in this campaign and the energy is infectious! Our modest little office is now filled with volunteers on a daily basis, making phone calls and knocking on doors. Ever since Early Voting began a couple weeks ago, our operations are surprisingly smooth and streamlined, despite the records we break on a daily basis. The enthusiasm of our volunteers and interns keeps rising, and Karl Rove’s new attack ad only motivates our staff to work even harder. News articles are written about our plucky campaign on a daily basis and the Sacramento Bee visited us last Saturday. Our campaign office was packed with volunteers and interns, many of whom had no idea that it would be such a momentous occasion. Dr. Bera delivered another stirring speech to get our volunteers fired up and ready to go!

One Week Left!

Today was my birthday and I could not imagine a better way to celebrate than spending a fulfilling day in our campaign office. I am not joking. It is a core life principle of mine to make an impact on the world and every day I spend here on the campaign, I feel like I am contributing to a greater cause that could have incredible ramifications on our country. 15 hours a day goes by pretty quickly and there is nothing to complain about because I know that every vote counts. Every volunteer or intern that I can recruit to our office will be responsible for getting many more votes for Dr. Ami Bera and it is this multiplying effect that attracted me towards the field campaign. I used to be an apathetic, cynical non-voter who believed that my sole vote meant nothing. However, when I realized that I could be responsible for getting many more votes through my active involvement, I knew it was important for me to assume a leadership role.

Dr. Bera’s election to Congress would be such a powerful statement for several reasons:

1. We will be one of perhaps three races in the entire country to knock off a sitting Republican this year. In our current political climate, this will be a great accomplishment and one that we can be proud of for the rest of our lives.
2. Dr. Bera will be the first Indian-American congressmember since Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American member of Congress, was elected in 1956.
3. The New Immigrant vote from Latinos and AAPIs in this district (comprising 25 percent of the population) will be a deciding swing vote in the race and will demonstrate our growing political voice.

With only one week left until Election Day, you can help make Dr. Bera’s victory a reality by making phone calls from your home. If you can call potential voters for us during these last weeks, you will allow our volunteers to knock on doors and make the personal one-on-one interactions that are more likely to drive our constituents to their polling places. Please call me at 626-512-2249 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 626-512-2249 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email me at brian@beraforcongress.com if you are able to volunteer for us.

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Volunteer for Dr. Ami Bera, one of Time Magazine’s “Top Races to Watch” and one of the best opportunities to unseat a sitting Republican this year.  Visit http://www.beraforcongress.com/page/s/websignup to sign up as a volunteer or contact Brian Wang at brian@beraforcongress.com or (626) 512-2249 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (626) 512-2249 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Our interns are awesome.

Super Awesome Interns

Eric is a high school intern who wants to pursue a career in medicine and public service, with Dr. Bera as a worthy role model. One day, I take Eric out canvassing in the local neighborhood to knock on doors. Although shy and mild-mannered at first, Eric finally musters up the courage to go it alone and talks to three undecided voters, all of whom decide to vote for Dr. Bera. I really enjoy seeing him realize the power that he has to help our voters make the right decisions.

Alagu is a young leader in her high school who organized an all-night dance-a-thon for charity. She regularly shows up wearing football jerseys or board-game costumes to match her weekly themes at school. She also wants to become a doctor and has a huge heart. Alagu is such a confident, poised young woman and I can already envision her running for office someday or assuming a major leadership position.

Our interns make phone calls to voters, greet our volunteers, train them how to phone bank, confirm our next day’s volunteers, and bring in many of their classmates to volunteer. They contribute so much and help out our staff greatly; we cheer loudly every time they enter the door because they are so invaluable!

We also began to engage in some lively competitions between the interns and regular staff. It started with the number of calls they make each day but we recently started a daily challenge to see who can guess correctly the artist, title and album of every song that is played on our Pandora station. There are some fierce competitors in this office, yelling loudly and fighting to poach easy wins off of other’s guesses, just to get our name on the all-time charts. I am currently tied at third all-time and feel older than ever as these kids refer to my favorite music as oldies and classics.

Whenever I look at the youthful office, I feel assured the election of Obama in 2008 was the civil rights movement for our generation. These young high schoolers and college students care passionately about the world around them and want to see leaders who represent them. Our district is ready for change and these youth are at the front lines, dedicating all their spare time to make it happen. They are just as inspiring and invigorating as our candidate, and should give us all great hope for our future.

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Volunteer for Dr. Ami Bera, one of Time Magazine’s “Top Races to Watch” and one of the best opportunities to unseat a sitting Republican this year. You can make online phone calls from home so that our local volunteers can knock on doors and make the personal contacts. Visit http://www.beraforcongress.com/page/s/websignup to sign up as a volunteer or contact Brian Wang at brian@beraforcongress.com or (626) 512-2249 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (626) 512-2249 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

The momentum is strongly in our favor and many experts have raised our campaign as one of the most likely races to defeat a GOP incumbent this year. We are poised to take this victory and everyone can envision our success. The third Congressional District in Sacramento is less than ten percent Asian and/or Pacific Islander, according to the most recent Census data, and new immigrants (e.g., Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders) are the least likely to vote of all ethnic groups. We need to make our voices heard and elect a leader who reflects the true diversity of our community.

With just one month left before Election Day, now is the time to get involved. You can make a huge impact on this race and help preserve the Democratic majority in the House. You can make phone calls from your home or office in any part of the country, as long as you have a computer with internet access. If you can help make phone calls, we can send more volunteers to knock on doors and make the one-on-one personal connections with voters that are more likely to result in getting their support. Our volunteers and interns are the reason why Dr. Bera will win this year and we will win with your help!

Commitment to Service

Please contact me at brian@beraforcongress.com or 626-512-2249 if you are interested in volunteering or being an intern during these last two weeks of the campaign. We are looking for leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to service and we hope you will get involved!

I wake up every morning around 8 am, shower quickly and jump into the car. I head over to work where I sit in an office until about 11 pm every night. We spend most of the day making calls to recruit volunteers, training volunteers how to phone bank, attending events to recruit volunteers, and organizing events for our volunteers to recruit their friends. You can see that our volunteers are certainly the core of our campaign. The grassroots energy is infectious and truly heartwarming.

A super-volunteer drops by with a box of donuts and bags of chips for our phone bankers. Another super-volunteer helps us take out the trash and comes by with a bucket and mop to help clean the restroom for us! After just a couple weeks, I am already greeting our regulars when they step inside the door as if I am having a reunion with my old college buddies. Interns on their way back to college are given farewell hugs and cheers go up in the office every time a caller makes her hundredth call or contacts a supporter.

The day passes by quickly and although we are hard at work, racing to meet deadlines or goals – our teams are drama-free and handle our stress with a strong dose of humor. The group is tight-knit and we laugh throughout the day, doing embarrassing dances to celebrate the scheduling of a new volunteer shift or sharing awesome answering machine messages with each other. One evening, we attend a youth concert hosted by the local Democratic Party in Sacramento. The dance floor is relatively empty for the first couple songs but my field organizers grab some signs and start dancing, getting other attendees to jump up and join the fun. This is the young, energetic rock-star campaign to join this year and we are not afraid to show it!

On Sunday, September 26, I attend a candidates’ forum at Sacramento State University, hosted by APAPA, the APIA Public Affairs Association. Again, I am extremely impressed by the turnout of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Several hundred Californians, most of them of AAPI descent, fill a large auditorium to hear speakers such as Senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina speak to the audience.

A Nation of Immigrants

Dr. Bera delivers an impassioned speech that leaves a palpable buzz in the crowd. They did not expect such a strong and inspiring performance after some of the other speeches. We recruit a good group of high school students to sign up as volunteers and interns. I meet some folks who don’t live in the area but want to donate, and I am not surprised that Dr. Bera has outraised his rival, the Republican incumbent. As the son of Indian immigrants, Dr. Bera values hard work and appreciates the sacrifices made by older generations who immigrated to America to give their children better opportunities. I am proud to be working on behalf of an AAPI candidate who knows and understands where he comes from and embraces his unique culture and heritage.

My first three weeks as a AAA-Fund Campaign Fellow for the Ami Bera campaign have been a whirlwind. I land in Sacramento on Saturday night, September 11th, and show up for Orientation at the campaign office in Elk Grove on Sunday morning. The first thing I notice when I knock on the door is that I am greeted by an Asian American. Scott Matsumoto, an intern and staff member at Dr. Bera’s office for the past four months, opened the door for me and introduced himself. As the afternoon progresses, I find myself surprised once again to see so many diverse individuals coming in to volunteer with the campaign. People of all ages, races, religions, political affiliations, abilities and sexual orientations are extremely well-represented in this office.

The energetic vibe and diverse makeup of the volunteer base reminds me much of the Obama campaign. Later that afternoon, Dr. Bera drops by to visit the volunteers and grab some pretzels to snack on. Instantly, the enthusiasm of our volunteers rises another notch as volunteers glance excitedly behind them and take pictures on their cell phones while other volunteers rapidly finish their messages.

The Rock Star Campaign

Dr. Bera is a rock-star candidate. He has the charisma, the buzz, and the “it” factor that separates certain candidates above the rest. I have met many AAPI and non-AAPI elected officials and there are a lot of dorky, socially awkward ones, who have the best of intentions but we all agree that they still need to hone their social skills. Dr. Bera is a natural; he exudes confidence and warmth. I stand up to shake his hand nervously myself, then realize I’m starstruck and tell myself to regain my composure. I am a professional, a staff member, and I need to get back to making phone calls while Dr. Bera chats with our volunteers.

– Brian Wang

Press Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Press Release

September 22, 2009
Contact: DHS Press Office, (202) 282-8010

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO AND USCIS DIRECTOR MAYORKAS

LAUNCH REDESIGNED USCIS WEBSITE

WASHINGTON-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Chief Performance Officer Jeff Zients today launched a redesigned USCIS website-available in English and Spanish-a major effort which fulfills President Obama’s pledge to offer enhanced navigation tools for the public to access immigration information and review case status.

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From Sarah Palin’s imaginary “death panel” to Sen. Grassley’s crass manipulation of Sen. Kennedy’s terminal cancer, the sheer audacity of the anti-health care propaganda machine has been staggering. With so many of us self-employed or working in small businesses, Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders have one of the highest rates of uninsured and underinsured in the country. Meanwhile, those of us working in larger companies know the competitive edge we lose to firms around the world who are not saddled with the onerous cost regime for health care we have here.

With Americans paying the largest portion of our income in the world for health care for increasingly lower quality and breadth of coverage, it is well past the time for reform. Fight back against the irresponsible scaremongering and spread the truth and get a Reality Check on health care. Educate your family and community on why Obama’s health care plan with a robust public option will cut costs, increase options, and improve care for all Americans.

For more information on what you can do, go below the fold for a message from Kalpen Modi and how to contact your Member of Congress.

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Dear Friends of AAA-Fund,

Can you make a donation of $10, $20, $55, $85, $125, or $250 to AAA-Fund?

For our part, we’ve found a few special ways to thank you for your generosity:

1. Tickets to meet Dr. Judy Chu, who is seeking to become Southern California’s first Asian American
Congresswoman.

2. Cutting-edge political counseling from AAA-Fund’s influential leaders

3. A chance to talk politics with AAA-Fund’s seasoned bloggers

We’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $3100 online. Here’s why.

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I first met Mark Keam at the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association national convention in Chicago in 2005. I was a third year law student at UChicago, and Mark was Chief Counsel to Senator Dick Durbin (who is one of the nicest, most genuine politicians I have ever met). After starting the Asian Americans for Obama effort, I was thrilled to discover that Mark had joined the Obama campaign in Virginia, a critical state where the AAPI vote could, and did, make a difference.

Today, I received an e-mail from Mark about his newest project - running for office himself to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates. Mark lives in Fairfax County in an increasingly Democratic district that also has a vibrant and growing AAPI community. Mark has a long record of fighting for progressive change, and I know he would be a great voice for all the people of his district in the General Assembly. Like Obama, Mark is running a grassroots campaign powered by small donations and passionate volunteers. Check out his e-mail below the fold for more information about his candidacy.

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Did you participate in the National Day of Service this past Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? Kayomi Wada, Service Learning Coordinator at the University of Washington Tacoma, shares her experience organizing a service project for MLK Day. Kayomi was one of the first to respond to our call for AAPIs to participate in the National Day of Service, and her project, The Giving Garden, was a tremendous success.

“As a fourth-generation Japanese American, whose family made their living in the New World farming, I have held onto the belief that some sort of agricultural acumen would transfer down the decades if I were to sow some seeds. After the death of innocent houseplants and various herbs hanging perilously out my apartment windowsill, I decided it was time to actually put some research into the endeavor. Of course, this remained on my to-do list, as I recalled how easily I thought gardening should have come. Perhaps my strongest push toward creating the garden had less to do with my farming heritage, and more to do with the patriotic line in my family, my grandfather served in the WWII even though his family was interned, how could I not answer President Obama’s call to service? I never was into the war thing, but community service? Sign me up!

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