February 11, 2008
Mr. Anderson Cooper
CNN
360@CNN.com & Express mailed
Dear Mr. Cooper,
I have been your devoted viewer for years and have always enjoyed your in depth and unbiased coverage of our news around the world. It is this type of unbiased reporting that made CNN so well liked in our country and around the world.
I am writing in regards to your segment on “Asian American votes” aired on February 8th.
I gratefully appreciate your effort in bringing Asian Americans into the folds of national politics before other mainstream media do. However, I believe that this piece could have been done with more accurate and balanced views and I am hoping that you will produce another segment to reflect the facts about the rise of Asian American political cohesiveness.
Mr. Gary Tuchman’s interviews in Seattle’s Chinatown do not by any means convey ALL the political views of Asian American voters. Contrary to Mr. Tuchman’s indication, new immigrants certainly are NOT fearful of change because they have undertaken drastic change to immigrate to a new country. When the words, “the white lady” were used, it was obvious that she had trouble remembering or pronouncing Hillary Clinton’s name. So she used these words to describe the candidate of her choice rather than as racial preference. That the clip immediately said things to imply she had a racial choice was what I considered the most offensive part of the segment. Racial disharmony is certainly not what CNN or the Asian American community would promote.
Asian Americans, under the direction of 80-20 Initiative, delivered a 75% bloc vote to Senator Clinton on February 5th during the California Democratic Primary. 80-20 Initiative endorsed Senator Clinton on January 18th because she had signed an iron-clad promise to bring equal opportunity in the workplace for all Asian Americans if elected. Senator Obama made the same promise on January 31st as we were about to endorse Clinton nationwide. Currently 80-20 Initiative is not endorsing any candidate.
80-20 Initiative is the largest Asian American political action committee in the country with over 700,000 supporters within reach in 7 hours. We support politicians who either have worked to bring equal opportunity and justice to our community or have promised to do so. We have delivered bloc votes to our candidates in the years 2000, 2004 and 2006 ( www.80-20pac.org )
Late last night we initiated a petition to our supporters asking them to show you how they feel about this segment. In 14 hours, we collected over 1,000 signatures and many comments. Please link to the URL below to see results: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wUs_2fa5IkCNYwyhf_2b_2biB9Tw_3d_3d.
There are about 13 million Asian Americans in our country, over 10% of the population in California is Asian American, a significant piece on the rise of Asian American political cohesiveness would be most appropriate during this election year. Your serious consideration on this project will be deeply appreciated.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Kathleen To
President, 80-20 PAC
www.80-20initiative.net
cc: 80-20 Board of Directors
/hw