"The opinion towards Indian-Americans (on Capitol Hill) might not change that much but Al Gore has a more natural understanding of the community and its issues. He has the needs of the community more readily on his mind," said Kris Kolluri, senior aide to House Democratic leader, Richard A. Gephardt, and the highest-ranking Indian-American staffer in Congress.
It's no secret that Indians here tend to lean towards the Democrats, who, many profess, have shown a greater interest and knowledge of minority and immigrant issues. That includes wealthy Indians. Most of the almost $7.7 million in donations Indian raised for federal candidates during the last three elections was for the Democrats. In 2000, they raised almost $1 million for Hillary Clinton's successful senatorial campaign and about $3 million for Vice-President Al Gore.
Whether the election outcome will adversely affect the growing Indian-American political lobby is difficult to say.
This election comes in the middle of a virtual renaissance in Indian political activism in Washington. In 1990, there were three Indian-American legislative aides on Capitol Hill. Now, there are 32. The First Lady's senior policy advisor and now deputy campaign manager, Neera Tanden, is an Indian-American. Bombay-born Fareed Zakaria, former editor of Foreign Affairs and soon-to-be-editor of Newsweek International, has had his name thrown around more than a few times as a possible national security advisor in a Gore administration. Two Indian-American Democratic state representatives—Kumar Barve from Maryland and Satveer Chaudhary from Minnesota— have good prospects as future members of the US House. "There's been an explosion of South Asian presence on Capitol Hill," says Kapil Sharma, senior counsel to New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli, a Democrat.
With a population verging on 2 million, of which many are educated, affluent and highly-skilled, politicians have rapidly been turning their attention to Indian groups and issues. Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone organised the Congressional caucus on India and Indian-Americans in Washington four years ago—a group of Congressional members who professed a united interest in Indian-Americans and Indian-American issues. (There are no Indians in Congress, although the first Asian in Congress ever was an Indian, Dalip Singh Saund, in 1956). Democratic Congressional leader Gephardt hired Kolluri as his chief legislative aide to start a comprehensive outreach programme to the Indian-American community. President Clinton appointed Shamina Singh from Maryland as executive director of the first ever White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific islanders just last year.
"Money and population size have given us a voice at the table," says Kolluri. Produce a padded wallet and you've got a candidate listening. And Indians have got something to say. Multiple groups representing Indian interests have gradually popped up in Washington DC and are getting stronger: be it the Network of South Asian Professionals (NETSAP), a non-profit organisation that is a hub for political networking between South Asian professionals and which hosts conferences like a recent South Asian literary festival near Washington attended by, among others, Jhumpa Lahiri and Vikram Seth; the recently-founded India Abroad Center for Political Awareness (IACPA), another non-profit organisation that has been gathering support and spurring participation in politics among Indians nationwide with focused awareness campaigns, conferences and public meetings with politicians; the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, or the Indo-American Political Foundation.
"This is a time unlike we've ever had before," says Singh. There's a huge chance for this population to define itself and the issues that matter to it—education, the digital divide, discrimination—a lot of the typical issues of the immigrant experience—and many atypical, like H1-B visas."
Could times be changing?
While Vice-President Gore made a concerted effort to meet with Indian-Americans during his campaign and has spoken about Indian issues like H1-B visas and the digital divide frequently, Governor George W. Bush has not addressed the Indian community at all. Clearly, if they are not giving him any money, he has no incentive to appear concerned.If Bush is installed in office on January 20, as many believe may happen, the slew of Indian staffers who have hitherto enjoyed prominence and power as staffers in Democratic offices under a Democratic administration, despite a Republican House and Senate, might suffer. Presidential appointees like Singh might eventually be out of a job.
But most Indians in the capital seem to think it's unlikely a Bush presidency will have too much of an adverse affect on the Indian lobby. "The Indians you see working here are bright, vibrant, forward-thinking and proud to be Indian," says Sharma. "There's a lot of strength there."
"If anything, the most powerful effect of this election may be that everyone has learned the power and meaning of participation," says Kolluri. Only 7 per cent of Indians voted in the election before this. Changing that is the most important step Indians need to take to strengthen their agenda.
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