The Republican National Convention starts on Monday in St Paul and Republican nominee Arizona Senator John McCain will certainly be hoping things work for him here because the elements seem to be lining up in a negative way so far.
First, there’s Tropical Storm Gustav veering towards the Gulf Coast and the last thing the Republicans need is a hurricane like Katrina. Second, because of the possibility President George W Bush is likely to skip the Convention, or at least not be here as scheduled on Monday. Third, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a headlining speaker is almost certainly a no show.
Of course, Jindal was in the reckoning for McCain’s VP pick but his running mate will be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Not a lot is known about Palin’s connections to Indian-Americans, but we do know she did appoint one as the State’s chief techie. That’s Anand Dubey.
A lot more information on her connections to the community at the South Asian Journalists’ Association’s forum.

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One of the more interesting delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver was Carolyn Sauvage-Mar. A sixth generation Chinese-American, she lives in South Delhi and was a Democrats Abroad delegate to the Convention, the only one from India. Basically, she’s looking at getting Americans in India to register and cast their absentee ballots for the Presidential elections.
Here’s what she had to say:

She blogs regularly at for Democrats in India.

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That’s more or less what Barack Obama’s policy towards Pakistan will be. The focus will be on developmental assistance rather than boosting Pakistan’s military arsenal, as has been the Bush Administration’s policy.
We met with Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Obama campaign and here’s what she had to say about the political crisis in Pakistan:

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It’s interesting that politicians from states that are benefitting from investment by Indian companies are at the forefront of India-bashing, especially from within the Democratic member.
The latest to join the roster is former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, who used outsourcing as a wedge issue to rouse the crowd, during his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention:

We delivered broadband to the most remote areas of our state; because, if you can send a job to Bangalore, India, you sure as heck can send one to Danville, Virginia and Flint, Michigan and Scranton, Pennsylvania and Peoria, Illinois. In a global economy, you shouldn’t have to leave your home town to find a world-class job.

Warner isn’t alone. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland was nodding happily by Hillary Clinton’s side during the Democratic primaries while she morphed into an anti-globalisation heroine. Of course, Strickland has no problem welcoming investment by TCS into a center near Cincinnati.

The issue, of course, is that while those like Warner and Strickland favour international trade ties, they also tend to be prisoners of the unionists who don’t.

Now, the current Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, till recently in the very short list of those who could have been Obama’s VP pick, is investment-friendly, as we found out while speaking to him in denver:

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There is a growing number of Indian-Americans in State House and Senates. You’d expect them to be from states where there is a substantial population of Indian-Americans, but that’s really not the case.
Take for instance, the two most recent entrants into this club. There’s Raj Goyle, a State Representative from Kansas. Goyle is fairly close to the State’s Governor Kathleen Sebelius and like her, was an early supporter of Barack Obama.
And then there’s Jay Goyal, another young State Representative, this time from Ohio.
The Goyal/Goyle due cartainly got their share of attention when they participated at an event in Denver organised by the Indian American Leadership Initiative.
That’s them at the meet:

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It’s interesting how a generational divide has become apparent during these elections. During the Democratic primaries, while establishment first-generation Indian-Americans were largely with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, young Indian-Americans, born or raised in the United States backed Barack Obama overwhelmingly.
That may well be a trend for the Presidential elections as well. Take this one example. There is Dr Sambhu Banik, a prominent Republican, who was a delegate at the Republican National Convention in New York City in 2004. He was also recently appointed to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
His daughter, Koli, is also very politically active. However, she’s at the Democratic National Convention dealing with bloggers and online media for the Communication Center for the Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

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Here’s the story we filed on the enthusiasm in Denver’s Indian-American community over the Presidential elections and especially about the Convention coming to their backyard:

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Ok, now I believe that you could get into any large city in the United States and come across a Little India. That Little India can either be a shopping district or even a restaurant. In Denver, it’s a chain of restaurants. We visited one on South Downing Street to meet up with some Indian-Americans who call Denver home.
No comments on the cuisine, since we never had a bit. But the water was nice and chilled!
The Indian population in Denver may not be huge, but they certainly have a number of associations broken down by region - for Telegus, Kannadigas, Tamils, Marathis.
In fact, Denver had its India Day on Saturday, two days before the Democratic National Convention started in the city. Which was a great judgement call simply because so many roads have been blocked off in Denver because of the number of VIPs that chaos would otherwise have ruled. The local India Association was behind the I-Day celebrations.
Take a look at Little India:

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Greetings from Denver, Colorado, where, it appears, every Democrat has gathered together for the Democratic National Convention.
You can tell a lot about a city or a state in the United States from what the local sports teams are called and holds very true for Denver.
The American football team here is called the Denver Broncos…that’s a nod to Denver’s roots in the Wild Wild West, a Gold Rush frontier. In fact, Barack Obama will be accepting his party’s nomination at the Broncos’ home field, Invesco.
Then there’s the local hockey team (hockey here stands for ice hockey). That called the Colorado Avalanche. That comes from the Rockies which form the backdrop to Denver. The state is known for its ski resorts as well, Vail, Aspen, many others. Though most skiers would try and avoid avalanches, for sure.
The baseball team is the Colorado Rockies - that’s the range where the ski resorts are.
Finally, the basketball squad - The Denver Nuggets, another nod to the Gold Rush past.
Interestingly, Pepsi Center, the focal point for the Convention serves as a dual-purpose home for both the Nuggets and the Avalanche.

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Joe Biden, the 65-year-old Senator from Delaware will be Barack Obama’s running mate. Interesting choice.
Biden’s choice may be good news for India and Indian-Americans. He’s pretty close to community leaders in his home state. And he was quite supportive of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But, of course, Biden is also given to gaffes. One of them, which was given a racial tinge by the media, was about Indians in the home state. This is what happened during his interaction with a representative of the lobbying group, USINPAC:

In 2006 when Raj Peter Bhakta, the former participant on The Apprentice, ran for Congress from Pennsylvania (and lost handily), he used Biden’s words in an ad:

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