AAPI Caucus

The Asian American/Pacific Islander Dems held a caucus yesterday inside the convention center.

It was a lot of party rallying and trying to hype up Obama. Many of the big names of AAPI politics were there such as Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., Rep. David Wu, D-Ore. and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.

The speakers went over AAPI candidates who were involved in races across the country, including Hank Eng, who's running for the 6th Congressional District against Mike Coffman.

The always enthusiastic Howard Dean made a brief appearance, speaking about the rising voice of AAPI Democrats.

Note: Everyone pulled out their cameras and made their way to the front of the stage when he got to the lectern. Many of the politicians stood behind him for a photo op. It was pretty funny.

Tammy Duckworth, the former Army major who lost her legs in Iraq and later ran for Congress in Illinois, also made an appearance.

In the middle of the event, Mee Moua, a state senator in Minnesota, gathered all the elected officials to the front of the stage and made them sing a song about Barack Obama and Joe Biden. (I think I have a video of this, I have to download my camcorder's footage first)

Edit: I do have video of this.



Yul Kwon, of "Survivor" fame, moderated the third part of the caucus, which featured younger AAPIs who spoke about what they have been doing politically. Ramey Ko, a delegate from Texas, spoke about how he helped start the "Asian Americans for Obama" grassroot organization.

Note: S.R. Sidarth was on the panel. He's better known as being the person former Virginia Senator George Allen called "macaca" back in '06, which helped lead to Jim Webb's victory.