Posted on 10/17/2004 8:37:34 PM PDT by freedom44
Before declaring herself a candidate for Oregon's 1st Congressional District, Goli Ameri made a few discreet inquiries: Would voters accept someone born in Iran, a country that President Bush identified as part of the "axis of evil?"
The positive response, she says, was "phenomenal."
Today Ameri, who has never held public office, is in a competitive race against three-term incumbent David Wu. After trouncing two opponents in last spring's Republican primary, Ameri is waging a well-financed campaign that portrays Wu as a liberal Democrat out of touch with a district buffeted by economic recession -- be it in high-tech Washington County or in the small towns that once thrived on timber and fishing.
In contrast, Ameri paints herself as a Republican with an independent streak. She backs the president's tax cuts 100 percent but disagrees with the Bush administration on a number of issues, including the re-importation of prescription drugs and stem cell research.
Wu's campaign manager, Cameron Johnson, argues that Ameri is far more conservative than she lets on. He cites as examples her support for parental notification and a 24-hour waiting period before abortion and her opposition to same-sex marriage.
"She's very much tied to her party's ideology and to President Bush," Johnson says.
Though she once wondered whether her heritage would hurt her political chances, Ameri has since turned her personal story into the centerpiece of her campaign. If elected, she would be the first Iranian-born woman to serve in the U.S. Congress.
These days, Ameri argues, her background, coupled with her experience as the owner of a small business, uniquely qualifies her to speak on the latest issues, including the war on terror and declining job numbers, that are confronting Congress.
Ameri says she wholeheartedly supports the war on terror. But she says U.S. war planners should have done more to seal off Iraq's borders. And, she says, the president needs to have direct communication with Muslims in the region.
"I understand how terrorists in that part of the world operate," she says.
But centering so much of her campaign on her Iranian heritage has unexpectedly brought out vocal opposition within Oregon's Iranian American community.
Some accuse Ameri of taking advantage of a foreign policy situation for her personal and political gain. And they've formed a new group in response to her campaign called Iranian-Americans for a Progressive Democracy.
Ken Nadri, a financial consultant from Tigard who left Iran ahead of the Islamic revolution in 1979, says Ameri doesn't speak for him or his family.
"Her issue on the war in Iraq, we don't support it," he says. "We don't want violence. We don't want people killing either side."
Farangis Jabery, who left Iran in 1980 with her husband and two children, claims Ameri is merely "representing a handful of rich Iranians."
Quiet entrance into politics
Ameri, 48, says she has always had "a passion for public service." But until recently, the role she's played has been mostly behind the scenes.
In 1998, Ameri worked on Molly Bordonaro's unsuccessful bid against Wu. She also served on Sen. Gordon Smith's campaign finance committee and worked to defeat Oregon's Measure 30, which would have raised state taxes.
Early on, many Republicans considered Ameri a long shot candidate for Congress.
Amilyn Davidson, who served as Ameri's campaign manager from August 2003 until the end of November that year, said insiders warned: "David Wu. That's a tough district. He's going to have all the money he wants, and nobody knows who she is."
Smith said he also counseled Ameri.
"Because she's a dear friend, I told her how difficult it is to enter politics at the federal level," Smith said. "It not beanbag. It's hardball. And she had to be ready for the challenge."
Ameri was not scared off.
In the past few weeks, she has traveled to California, Washington D.C., New York, Florida, Idaho and Texas to raise money to sustain her campaign. She's put together nearly $2 million and received high-profile help from Vice President Dick Cheney and other party leaders, who now see the potential for Republicans to claim Oregon's 1st District seat for the first time in 32 years.
Ameri is poised during public appearances. She speaks English, Farsi and French fluently and says she has a "working" knowledge of Spanish. Earlier this week, when The Oregonian reported that Wu allegedly had assaulted a college girlfriend 28 years ago, Ameri declined to comment.
Making a new home in Oregon
Ameri was born and raised in Tehran. Her father was a medical doctor and successful businessman.
It was customary for some Iranians to send their children abroad to school. Ameri's mother was educated in Switzerland and her father in France. But Ameri said Europe was "old" by the time she was ready for college and "California was new."
So Ameri left Iran in 1974 to attend Stanford University. She was 17 years old and interested in a career in public relations.
She met her husband-to-be, Jim, in the student union. He was pursuing a graduate degree in engineering and was also from Iran. They married in 1979, the year Ayatollah Khomeini declared a new Islamic republic.
Ameri's parents were in Paris attending a medical seminar at the time of the revolution and did not return to their homeland. Many with ties to the old regime were imprisoned, including Ameri's uncle, who was once a foreign minister and former ambassador to the United States. He died, Ameri says, two days after his release from prison.
Ameri didn't see her native country again for 17 years. Instead, she and Jim dedicated themselves to building a new life in a new country. They had two sons, Darius, now 19, and Sherwin, 15.
With a bachelor's degree in French literature and communications and a master's degree in communications, Ameri began her career installing hardware and software for a high-tech company in California's Bay Area. She moved on to work for an oil company and then moved to U.S. Leasing, a company that leased telecommunications and technology equipment.
In the meantime, Jim Ameri became a partner in a growing real estate investment firm. In 1986, his firm bought its first properties in Portland, on Northwest 23rd Avenue.
Goli and Jim Ameri, who had come to the United States on student visas, became U.S. citizens in 1989. She is often asked about her views on immigration.
"I'm a big supporter of legal immigration," she answers. "But we need to do it legally. We need to wait our turn."
By 1993, Jim Ameri's firm had grown to the point where it made sense to relocate the family to Oregon. Goli Ameri found her expertise in telecommunications in demand. She started eTinium, a consulting firm that helped telecommunications companies find markets for their products.
At its busiest, Ameri said her small business had four people working on "a variety of projects." Today, calls to eTinium are forwarded to Ameri's campaign office, and she says the business is on "hiatus."
Cancer turns her to action
Susan Winkler, a friend who met Ameri through their children's private school, says she represents, "the best of the American dream."
But even Ameri's new life in the United States has had its challenges.
In March 1991, just before she turned 35, Ameri found a lump in her breast while showering.
Her mother had had breast cancer, so she went directly to the doctor. He recommended that they wait. Both Goli and Jim insisted that she be treated right away.
The lump turned out to be cancer, an aggressive form. Ameri's baby was 11/2 years old.
"I remember saying, 'God, please let me live long enough to see my kids go to college,' " she says.
Ameri often talks publicly about her breast cancer and how it would influence her work in Congress.
Speaking two weeks ago to a group of retired military officers, she said: "I'm acutely aware of the need for everybody to have affordable health care."
She supports individual health savings accounts that would allow people to buy into low-cost plans and get tax savings. Ameri also favors permitting groups to band together to purchase cheaper insurance, and medical liability reform.
Privately, Ameri says surviving cancer has left her with a deep appreciation as well as a sense of responsibility to do something positive with the life she's given.
"There's not a day," she says, "that I don't wake up and thank God that I'm alive and kicking."
Scary = Oregon = Liberal...you decide.
Don't know about that. I think she can beat Democrat Wu for the ticket.
Ameri says she wholeheartedly supports the war on terror. But she says U.S. war planners should have done more to seal off Iraq's borders...
But we wanted terrorists to go from other countries to Iraq. That was one of the points nobody discussed openly. They wanted to fight the terrorists over there and not over here.
WWWWHHHHHAAAAATTTTT?????
Campaign slogan?
Ameri CAN!
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