Posted on 07/26/2003 2:13:49 AM PDT by Cronos
WASHINGTON: Indian American groups in Illinois have endorsed the US Senate candidacy of novice politician Chirinjeev Kathuria, a successful businessman who has declared he will put close to $15 million into the race.
The 38-year-old Kathuria's campaign manager says his candidacy holds the potential of expanding the Republican Party base and attracting younger voters to the polls.
"The significance of this event is that all the Indian/South Asian communities got together and endorsed my candidacy. It's very historic because Indians have tended to vote Democratic," Kathuria said, referring to Thursday's event at Chicago where several Indian American community leaders endorsed his candidacy.
According to some estimates, Indian Americans control about $30 billion of wealth in the US, and Kathuria hopes that is a wake-up call to the Republican Party to diversify its ranks.
"And this is so very important because all the groups have put their differences aside," Kathuria said.
The New Delhi-born Kathuria emigrated to the US with his parents when he was just eight months old. He is a 1983 graduate of Downers Grove North High School, Chicago, where he was a Valedictorian.
He earned a bachelor of science degree and a doctor of medicine from Brown University. He also earned a MBA from Stanford University. He is credited with starting several companies including investing in MirCorp, a Russian space travel company, and Healthcite, Agatel, as well as in ventures in India, Japan and Britain.
"It is the only time probably where the South Asian vote could help put an Indian in office," Kathuria calculates.
In the last Republican primaries held in 1988, some 800,000 votes were cast and with a full field of five or six candidates competing for the Republican endorsement, his campaign manager Jon Zahm believes 100,000 of the 200,000 votes needed to win could come from the South Asian supporters.
Some of the Illinois Indian American groups that came out to endorse Kathuria include Anavil Samaj of Chicago, Uttar Pradesh Association of Greater Chicago, Indo-American Political League, Chicago Tamil Sangam, Punjabi Cultural Society, Sikh Religious Society and the Indo American Republican Council of Illinois.
"If the South Asian community can deliver 100,000, that's half the vote. And then if the rest of the Asian, Hispanic, other groups, and the moderate votes come in, this becomes easily winnable," said Kathuria.
Jon Zahm, Kathuria's campaign manager and CEO of Goliath Slayers Communications, is known in the past for bringing dark horse candidates to the winning side.
Asked why he was attracted to Kathuria, Zahm said: "It's an opportunity to expand the Republican Party, to bring in Indian Americans and make it a majority party in Illinois. We can help turn the tide by having a diverse group of people supporting a Republican candidate."
Zahm said despite the field being crowded and despite other candidates also being successful businessmen and highly educated, Kathuria was a notch above the others.
"When I look at his resume as compared to other candidates, I think Chirinjeev shines above that group. Not only does he have a Masters degree, he also has a medical degree.
"In business, not only has he started one company but several companies in diverse areas, and he's created many more jobs. It's a strong field but he is one step above."
Zahm also believes Kathuria could attract a younger voter.
"I think we can galvanize 18-40 vote" despite Kathuria sporting a turban and beard. "I think young people, even recent high school graduates and older are more tolerant of different backgrounds.
"The intolerance I find is more in much older people who are sometimes more set in their ways."
I'm just kidding! Really!
"If the South Asian community can deliver 100,000, that's half the vote. And then if the rest of the Asian, Hispanic, other groups, and the moderate votes come in, this becomes easily winnable," said Kathuria.
"Moderate votes"=Bad sign.
Wow, you packed a lot of prejudices into three sentences. First of all: Turban, beard... generally NOT Hindu, but Sikh. Second of all: guess you must think all medical doctors are stupid, and the more they specialise, the stupider they are! Neurosurgeons must top your stupid list...
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