India Post News Service

NEW YORK: In a bid to balance out the Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s firm grip over the South Asian community, a group of Indian American professionals has recently launched ‘South Asians For McCain’, an independent initiative to expose the community to Sen. John McCain, the Republican Presidential hopeful in the November election. This self-funded effort, according to founder Suresh Kumar, has not been influenced by the Republican Party or the McCain campaign in any way.

"It is an initiative by a small group of independent Asian Indian professionals based in the US to mobilize independent South Asians in the US around Senator John McCain’s campaign for President in 2008," he says. New Jersey-based entrepreneur, Suresh Kumar – CEO of Nexage Technologies USA – told India Post in an emailed interview his group felt the South Asian Indian community has not been exposed enough to Senator McCain.

"We feel that McCain will make a more reliable President," he said. "There is no doubt that the South Asian community has always been and will again lean heavily towards the Democratic Party. That is why we felt it was important to present the community with the alternative choice so that they can make an informed decision." South Asians For McCain’s strategy is to present alternate viewpoints and disseminate McCain’s policy information via their website.

Conceding that the Obama campaign is "far ahead of the curve" as far as the South Asian community is concerned, Suresh Kumar says his group has nevertheless started the reaching out process. Further elaborating on reasons for launching the initiative, Suresh Kumar states on the group’s website: Our primary objective is to inform and educate South Asians in the US and all around the world about the long and distinguished track record of Senator McCain.

We would like to point out that by supporting Senator McCain we are not against Senator Obama. In fact, we believe that the American voters deserve credit for bringing forth two truly exceptional leaders to compete for the Presidency. "It is often taken for granted by the media that regardless of the candidate, the majority of the South Asians in the US vote Democratic as the party is perceived to be friendlier to immigrants," says Suresh Kumar.

"Our experiences indicate that just like the general American electorate, a large number of South Asian Americans are independents and vote for candidates based on their merits." While the mainstream as well as the South Asian media in the US has given a lot of attention to Senator Obama, it has failed to give a balanced coverage for Senator McCain, he feels. "It is well documented in various US census reports that a vast majority of South Asian immigrants who have come in to the US over the last two decades may not be fully familiar with Senator McCain and his service to the nation," he adds.

Another important reason for launching SouthAsiansForMccain.Com, according to Suresh Kumar is that, "In our estimate, while the Obama campaign has effectively rolled out the campaign among the South Asian’s in the US, the McCain 2008 campaign has hardly done any worthwhile outreach to this community. Our informal inquires with few South Asian community leaders indicate that none of them have not been contacted by anyone from the McCain Campaign.

Apart from a junior staffer at the McCain HQ who is in charge of outreach to the splintered and diverse Asia-Pacific community, the McCain campaign does not seem to have made any efforts to reach out to the influential South Asian community in the US, such as the Asian Indian community. Our attempts to reach the McCain campaign to get specific information have been unsuccessful.

The primary objective of SouthAsiansForMcCain.com is to try to address these problems." On the major issue of terrorism, which many South Asian nations including India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka have been struggling with for several decades now, the South Asians For McCain believes it is imperative that the scourge in any form be treated as a ‘strategic threat’ that can be combated by building a strong global alliance of free and democratic nations.

In that context, the group feels John McCain, who has identified the global struggle against radical Islamic extremism as the "transcendent issue of the 21st century", has the "experience and credibility to build that global alliance, the courage to take a tough stand against terrorism and more importantly hold steadfast when lesser men could falter".