Making A Difference

Wind In The Grass

She's their favourite, but suppose Hillary loses.... Indians mull their options.

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Wind In The Grass
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Generous helpings of butter chicken and Malabar fish curry are said to have famously nourished the relationship between New York City hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal and the Clintons. But what has really knit their friendship into enduring knots is Chatwal's lavish financial contributions to the election campaigns of the Clintons—for Bill earlier, and now for Hillary Rodham. It consequently seems quite impolite to ask the turbaned tycoon: should Hillary fail to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, would he divert his rather contagious enthusiasm for her rival, Barack Obama? The question doesn't fluster Chatwal: "I'm 100 per cent behind Hillary. I will wait to hear from her. If she says support Obama, I will; if she doesn't, I will not."

But the question posed to Chatwal has become a conundrum that appears more complicated to the Indian community than preparing buttery chicken and spicy curries. Their dilemma is understandable—a substantial majority of Indians are diehard Hillary followers; the ferocious campaign for winning the Democratic Party's presidential nomination has driven a sharp wedge between them and Obama's camp. And now, as Hillary wages what political pundits call a losing battle, her supporters have to decide whether they forget the bitterness of the past few months and transfer their allegiance to Obama—or vote the Republican Party only to spite him. Significantly, the Republican alternative, John McCain, isn't as forbidding a choice as those in the past—and he is most likely to build on President George Bush's romance with India.

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Obama and supporters

This dilemma is not only peculiar to Indians. A March Gallup poll found a sizeable proportion of Democrats saying they would vote for McCain in November if he faces a candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. "Clinton supporters appear to be somewhat more reactive than Obama supporters," according to Gallup.

Among these reactive Hillary supporters is the Maryland-based dentist, Dr Rajwant Singh, who could support McCain if Obama wins the nomination. It was at Rajwant's fundraiser for the Senate election in 2006 that Hillary had joked she was happy to be the "senator from Punjab as well as from New York." The Obama campaign team seized upon her statement to criticise her close ties with India and the community, though he subsequently apologised for the remark. But Rajwant still bristles: "In an Obama-McCain contest, I'll be open to supporting McCain. If Hillary says support Obama, it will not be her choice but mine that will guide me."

The choice before the Indian community could complicate even further should McCain pick Louisiana's Indian-American governor, Bobby Jindal, as his running mate. In such a scenario, Massachusetts-based Ramesh Kapur, a member of the Democratic National Committee's national finance board, admits he will be torn between his loyalty to his party and the community. "It'll be a very tough decision for me...and I have been a Democrat for a very long time," says Kapur, who favours Obama over Hillary.

Kapur's admission is more true for ordinary Indians than those who are rich and powerful, usually sagacious enough to butter their bread both sides. Take Silicon Valley entrepreneur Kamil Hasan and his wife Talat, who raised about $350,000 for Hillary at two fundraisers. But they have also donated money to Obama. "We put our money where our mouth is," explains Talat, who admits to "leaning toward" Hillary but will support whoever wins the nomination. Her advice to confused Indian-American Democrats: "McCain is going to be Bush version 2.0, they should be cautious."

Unlike in past elections, this year the spotlight is on the superdelegates—party officials, elected representatives, former officials and activists—whose votes will matter crucially at the party's convention in Denver in August, traditionally held to formalise the presidential nomination, but now expected to witness a division. Kamil is part of this select group, and admits it's Obama who's the favourite unless Hillary is given votes from the controversial Florida and Michigan contests. A panel of the Democratic National Committee is meeting in Washington on May 31 to decide on the contentious issue. The national Democratic Party stripped the two states of their delegates after they flouted party rules by holding early primary elections. No candidate campaigned in the states and Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan. Hillary won the unsanctioned contests and now wants those results honoured; Obama disagrees. Their disagreement has an echo among their followers. As Rajwant contends, "We cannot ignore the fact that she has won major states including Florida, West Virginia and California. In those states Obama has not even been close. I can't imagine how the superdelegates can ignore that."

Kamil, however, says he's considering three criteria before casting his vote: who is the best for Indo-US relations, who is the Indian-American community supporting, and what are their positions on issues affecting the Indian-American community. Kamil, like his wife, leans toward Hillary "because she knows India and the Indian-American community better." But over the course of the past few months, he has noticed a clear shift in the Indian-American community's support from Hillary to Obama.

It's to sharpen this shift that Sunil Puri, an Illinois-based Democratic fundraiser and elected Obama delegate, says he has been in touch with Hillary supporters. "Most of them have acknowledged that it is time to move on," he says, adding Obama supporters have been asked to reach out to the superdelgates. Notes Kapur: "It takes many people to turn these opinions and we are all participating." To which, Talat adds, "More than anything, we are Democrats. We want a Democrat in the White House."

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