Kamala Harris vs. Trump: The Indian-American Vote Could Swing the Presidency | U.S Elections 2024
However Kamala Harris's presidential candidacy goes, her professional and political journey has already been trailblazing. Her ascendancy marks the growing political clout of Indian-Americans in the US — and potential divides. And a tight race between Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump means that the Indian-American vote matters.
#OIDW #DWVideos #KamalaHarris #2024Election #IndianAmericanVote #PoliticalClout #HarrisVsTrump #USPolitics #ElectionBattle #IndianAmericanImpact #PresidentialRace #PoliticalTrailblazer #USPresidency #HarrisCampaign #TrumpVsHarris #Election2024 #VotePower
~HT.97~PR.152~ED.101~
#OIDW #DWVideos #KamalaHarris #2024Election #IndianAmericanVote #PoliticalClout #HarrisVsTrump #USPolitics #ElectionBattle #IndianAmericanImpact #PresidentialRace #PoliticalTrailblazer #USPresidency #HarrisCampaign #TrumpVsHarris #Election2024 #VotePower
~HT.97~PR.152~ED.101~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Celebrating India in America.
00:03California has one of the largest Indian American populations of any state in the country.
00:09Commemorating Indian Independence Day is a chance for the community here to come together in music and dance.
00:15And to many here, seeing a Californian Indian American potentially become the next president is cause for celebration too.
00:23Kamala Harris, she's one of the best that we have.
00:27Highly educated and then she really delivers on her promise.
00:31Everyone is super excited about her candidacy and we are super jazzed and we're going to go vote for her.
00:38Getting Kamala Harris elected is of personal importance to Ajay Bhattoria.
00:42He came to the U.S. nearly 30 years ago from India as a student.
00:46Today, he's an active fundraiser for democratic campaigns.
00:50He says he's known the vice president since she was a district attorney in California.
00:55She represents the 4.4 million Indian Americans.
00:59To see that we came from India with two suitcases and then made a life for us
01:04and now see to someone who represents our color, our, you know, from the same background and origin
01:10to get elected as the next president of the United States, it's such a matter of pride and joy
01:16and that also brings hopes to millions of kids.
01:20To Ajay, Kamala Harris represents someone able to understand the issues affecting his community
01:25like the economy and immigration.
01:27But Kamala Harris is far from the only Indian American figure that's risen to political prominence.
01:33The nation was recently introduced to Usha Vance, wife of Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
01:39Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley have become surrogates for Donald Trump
01:43after their own Republican primary campaigns ended.
01:47But Karthik Ramakrishnan, a political scientist studying the 2.2 million strong Indian American voting base
01:53says Indian American identity is a factor.
01:56But it's just one among others.
01:58Most Indian Americans still identify as Democrat.
02:01Where they stand on issues ranging from the environment to gun control to healthcare
02:07is much closer to Kamala Harris than it is to people like Haley and Ramaswamy, right?
02:13And so ultimately that's what is going to matter.
02:16Of course having someone who comes from one's community might make a difference
02:20in terms of the amount of energy in the base.
02:23But party is still more important than shared race or ethnicity.
02:29That cuts both ways.
02:31On the other side of the country, Priti Pandya Patel of the South Asian Republican Coalition
02:36is trying to get the vote out for the GOP in New Jersey,
02:39another state with a high Indian American population.
02:42She organizes roundtables of supporters like this one.
02:46I don't agree with a lot of her views and a lot of her policies and things.
02:50And so of course there is always going to be that disconnect.
02:54One of the biggest things I think is immigration, right?
02:59Where she was in charge of making sure the border was protected
03:04and she really didn't do a good job at that.
03:07As in every diaspora, the Indian American community is not a monolith.
03:12Their motivations and aspirations are nuanced.
03:15But it's an increasingly active and growing political force,
03:18whether in the halls of power themselves or in the voting booths.
03:21In an election that promises to be tight, that force will be felt.