Let’s be straight: I am a Democrat. I am also a woman and would like nothing more than a woman ascend to the Governor’s seat in Minnesota. But I am also a minority, Hmong by birth, American by refugee and immigration, and I am concerned because more and more I am finding that Margaret Anderson Kelliher’s gubernatorial campaign shows no immediate sign of reaching out to people of color. Her campaign staff appears monochromatic for the most part, what I have seen of it.
I have a few connections in the Hmong community who are the “usual suspects” whenever a new candidate, especially a democrat, comes on the scene. They report that both Matt Entenza and Mark Dayton have existing, indeed longstanding, political relationships to Hmong, Somali, Hispanic and other ethnic communities in Minnesota. For the most part Margaret seems visibly absent and they are not reporting any attempts to stir up support in this area.
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Indeed if you look at the websites for the three Democratic candidates, only Margarets is noticebly lacking on the topic of minority residents. Her “Issues” page discusses GLBT rights, but nothing on minority outreach. What with rampant poverty among the Hmong and other Southeast Asian ethnicities and immigration oppression happening among Hispanics, you would think it would rate even a mention.
However I cannot be everywhere. I opened this as a discussion to see if perhaps I am just missing something, and Margaret does have some tracks somewhere in minority political movement. I would hate to see her make the same mistake Al Franken did in not properly motivating minority voters and just “assuming” he’d get the votes.
True Lee
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