About Us Importance of Political Power Political Secrets I: Why is a bloc vote so powerful? (05/29/2007) Political Secrets I: Why is a bloc vote so powerful? Once a month, you'll read here political secrets that made Cuban Americans & Jewish Ams who are so small in numbers and yet so powerful politically. This series is designed to empower YOU politically so that TOGETHER we'll win equal opportunity and justice in America. S. B. Woo Subject: Why is a bloc vote so powerful? David Broder, America's most respected political columnist, stated that a bloc vote is "one of the unnoticed glories of American life." Why? Because a bloc vote can make a small minority politically powerful enough to protect themselves. A bloc vote is, in the short run, much more effective than giving millions of $$$ to politicians and/or registering tens of thousands of new voters each year. Here is why. One year, a Democratic presidential nominee (DPN) was running against a Republican nominee (RPN) in a certain state which has 12 million voters. That state had a small Jewish Am. community of 1 million votes. It could deliver a bloc vote of 80-20 to its endorsed candidate. The general community had 11 millions votes but didn't practice bloc votes. The DPN decided to focus on the general community. The RPC decided to focus on the Jewish community. When the ballots were counted, the DPN won the general community by a margin of 52% to 48%. (Recall that the last two presidential elections resulted in much smaller margin of difference than that.) Hence the DPN had a 4% advantage in the 11 million votes, or a winning margin of 440,000 votes. The RPN won the Jewish vote by a margin of 80% to 20%. Hence the RPC had a 60% advantage in 1 million voters. That is a net advantage of 600,000 votes. As a result, the RPN won! Wow, the power of a bloc vote! Actually, the above is NOT about a "certain state and Jewish Ams." It is about "California and Asian Ams." AsAms in CA are 8% of CA's 12 million votes which are just about1 million votes! The story is about our political power when we practice a bloc vote! All presidential candidates understand the power of a bloc vote. That was why 9 of the 11 presidential candidates in 2004 answered 80-20's questionnaire in 2004 with YES/YES/YES. Their promises were in writing and signed! Go see the signatures and what they had promised AsAms: http://www.80-20initiative.net/preselect2004.html. The above is the proof of the power of "Political Secret I." Bush and Sharpton were the two who didn't respond positively. Bush felt he could give up on CA and spend his money & effort more cost effectively in Florida and Ohio. Too bad for us in 2004. BUT! 2008 is a very different year. GOP can no longer count on the "solid" South and Mid-West. Many political experts have predicted that a RPN must try to win in CA. Hence, GOP will have to either work with us or lose Calif and with it the White House. WITH YOUR HELP, 80-20 aims to use a bloc vote to get all presidential candidates of 2008 to pay much more attention to our concerns! More political secrets to come! Forward this SECRET now! Ask your friends to join us in a bloc vote in 2008. Was this email informative? Have you questions? Post your feedback at http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html. I need your feedback! Thanks. S. B. Woo,
President, 80-20 EF (80-20 EF can tell you political secrets, but may NOT Political Secrets II: We Are the Kingmakers in Calif. Presidential Primary. No one who has read "Political Secrets I" can fail to be impressed with the power of a bloc vote. To review the earlier email, visit http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html. Here's a bigger secret - the ABSOLUTE power of our bloc vote in the 2008 presidential primaries in California, and lesser power in a few other states. The difference between a GENERAL and a PRIMARY Election: The PRESIDENT is chosen by ALL voters in the GENERAL election. ONLY the party NOMINEEs are chosen in separate party PRIMARIES. In some states, only party members (those registered as R or D) may vote in respective party primaries. In other states, (Calif. , New Hampshire, W. Virginia, …, etc.) Independents may ALSO vote in a primary by simply asking for a ballot. (Calif. refers to Independents as Declines.) Why do AsAms have more voting clout in a primary? Reasons are: a) in a primary election, there are many more candidates competing for our votes (11 Republicans and 8 Democrats so far). b), the number of voters is normally halved, because non-activists don't bother to vote in primaries. c), the number of AsAm voters will actually double, because in many states including Calif., at least the Democratic Party allows "Independents" to vote in its party primary. Another secret: while only 25% of the voter are Independents nationally, it is 43% for AsAms. We also register 33% as D and 25% as R. 80-20 will use its emails to drive all AsAms Independents to go vote for its endorsed candidate in states where Ind. may vote in primaries, particularly in Calif. Summary: In a primary, the number of other voters will be halved and are spread among many candidates. Our number of voters will double and they'll bloc vote for the candidate endorsed by 80-20. With your help, we SHALL be the kingmakers in presidential PRIMARIES. If 80-20 endorses one of the two top candidates in the Democratic primary in CA, that candidate will win! Stop. Period. Do other minorities have this kind of voting clout in a primary? No, although Hispanics have a larger population. The others don't have the email list to reach and persuade their voters in primaries when the choice is large and the attention span of voters is short. 80-20, using emails, can reach at least 50% of AsAm registered voters again and again. Who will Benefit? This power is NOT used for 80-20. YOU & YOUR CHILDREN will benefit. America will be "a more perfect Union." We want only equal opportunity. Help 80-20 back: Was this email informative? Have you questions? Post your feedback at http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html and pass this SECRET about our ability to become kingmakers in presidential PRIMARIES to your friends and relatives! Tell them that unity is power. Tell them to vote for 80-20's endorsed candidate. Unite! A historic opportunity is at hand. In Secrets III, we'll tell you how 80-20 uses this voting clout to horse-trade with presidential candidates for equal opportunity for ALL Asian Ams. Forward this email. Thank you. S. B. Woo Political Secrets III: Horse-Trading With Presidential Candidates Using votes to horse-trade with presidential candidates is legal so long as it is NOT for personal gains. That was how American Forefathers have intended for our elections to achieve - give the "little people" the power of the ballot box to induce politicians to do the right things for them. What do AsAms have to swing trade? That is why 80-20 PAC organizes a bloc vote - our community's asset for a political trade. How does 80-20 make a trade? 80-20 sends questionnaires to presidential candidates. If they reply in WRITING with Iron-clad promises to improve the lot for Asian Ams, then 80-20 will help them back in th elction. What a great trade 80-20 is making for you: See below how relevant and powerful 80-20's questions are to YOUR welfare. For the entire questionnaire of 6 questions and its cover letter, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/preselect2008.html to see their signed answers. Question 3: Two years after you have issued a directive to the Labor Secretary to enforcement Exec. Order 11246 for Asian Ams, will you meet with a group of Asian Pacific American leaders, put together jointly by 80-20 and the Labor Department, to review the progress in extending equal opportunity to Asian Pacific Americans? Please answer Yes or No. Question 4: If elected, will you within your first term of office increase the nomination of qualified Asian Americans to serve as Article III life- tenured federal judges, such that the number of such Asian American judges is proportionate to HALF the number of Asian Americans in the United States (2%)? [This'll roughly triple the number of AsAm Federal judges.] Please answer yes or NO. Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, both chairmen of powerful senate committees, have each replied with the iron-clad promise of 6 yeses! For their signed answers, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/preselect2008.html. Do NOT help any other presidential candidate until they've also given 80-20 their iron-clad promises. With YOUR HELP, 80-20 is confident to get iron-clad answers from most major presidential candidates. We'll help those who share our concerns win, and make sure that others lose. The end result? Our next president will be a one of the candidates who has given 80-20 the iron-clad promise to treat AsAms as equal citizens. If you know of friends helping OTHER presidential candidates, ask them if they have gotten similar iron-clad WRITTEN promises from those OTHER candidates. If not, ask them "Why not?" Ask them not to sabotage our shared dream to win equal opportunity and justice through the 2008 election! History will judge! Forward this SECRET to your friends! 80-20 empowers YOU. Do you know of other organizations that empower you as much? Thanks. S. B. Woo PS Have you suggestions for the questionnaire? Voice it via http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html. Political Secrets IV: Chinese Spies Everywhere! A week ago, USA Today's started a Special Report. Its front page top headline screamed "Combat Chinese Spying." http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-07-22-china-spy-1_N.htm?csp=34 Two days later, Part 2 of the Report headlined "Against China's Tech Spies." In San Francisco, FBI placed ads in Chinese papers seeking information on persons and events endangering our national security. Is there a chilling effect on Asian Ams, and particularly Chinese Ams? You bet. Will such articles have adverse effects on our lives? You bet. Under such an atmosphere, are we likely to enjoy equal opportunity in workplaces? No way. Ask yourself, does your boss care more about your career or his/her own career? What is easier? Shoulder the possible liability of having promoted a Chinese industrial or military spy? Or, not promoting you at all? If you are Asian but non-Chinese, ask yourself, does your boss differentiate one Asian from another? Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, was bashed to death by a baseball bat because two Detroit autoworkers took him to be a Japanese. 80-20 doesn't get into the US foreign policy. However, 80-20 stands four square to protect equal opportunity and justice for all Asian Americans! The political secret is: YOU MUST GET INVOLVED NOW when the presidential candidates need our bloc vote and are therefore willing to share our concerns. That was why 80-20 PAC sent questionnaires to presidential candidates asking them to promise in writing the vigorous enforcement of Exec. Order 11246. 3 of the 8 Democratic presidential candidates have already given 80-20 their iron-clad promises. Visit: http://www.80-20initiative.net/preselect2008.html. Under EO 11246, statistics are used to measure objectively whether Asian Americans enjoy equal opportunity in workplaces. Here is how 80-20 EF views the alarming situation. Protecting national security is important. However, if the equal opportunity and civil liberties of 13 million Asian Ams. are being trampled upon in the process, we are throwing out the baby together with the bath water. That must stop. 80-20 EF will fight it. 80-20 will write the Director of FBI, Justice Department and media such as USA Today and CNN. They include questions: In peace time, is there a more sensible way to guard against the stealing of our technical crown jewels? Does America spy on other nations, militarily and economically? What if China pulls these mirroring acts against Americans and American Chinese in China? Would our government consider such acts as the demonizing of the U.S.? Which nation spies on America's military hardware more? Israel, Russia or China? For the same amount of Chinese spying, if China is not a powerful nation, and/or if Asian Americans were politically as strong as Jewish Americans, would the same subject matter be handled more sensitively? Fellow Asian Americans. Do we want equal opportunity and justice? Do we want to live free of fear and suspicion? Act to support 80-20 yourself and getting others to support. Share your view at http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html. Thanks. S. B. Woo
Political Secrets V: How to become strong politically Cuban Ams (only 1.2 million in population) & Jewish Ams. (6 million) have big political clout and enjoy equal opportunity in America. Cuban Ams. have 2 US senators, 4 representatives and one cabinet member. The number of Jewish Am political leaders? I have lost count. :-) How come Asian Ams. don't enjoy equal opportunity yet, although we are 13 million in number? If the emerging anti-China political undercurrent alarms you in that its aftermath may hurt Chinese/Asian Ams for decades to come, then internalize the following two "MUSTS" to make ourselves politically much stronger. (1) Politically, make very different choices while living in American In Asia, we are members of the majority. A member of the majority can take or leave politics, since the society is not prejudiced against us. In USA, we are members of a very small minority composed mostly of
new immigrants. There is a lot of prejudice against "Asians" &
"immigrants" in America. Hence, every Asian Am. MUST participate in
politics to build up our GROUP political clout. At the very least, you must
1) register to vote, and vote in all important elections,
(2) ONLY support politicians who help us achieve equality Mainstream politicians have always known our folly to do just the opposite. That is, we support "apparent winners" rather than those who have performed services for us. Therefore they never bothered to do anything to help us. When they wanted our money, they would sweet-talk us into believing that they would be the likely winners. Even Asian Am politicians are now exploiting our folly. They know that the key to raising money from us is NOT their records of services to us. It is whether they are likely winners in the next election, or whether they have a high rank, or whether they will be holding the highest office in one meaningless sub-classification or another. We need to demand service from all politicians. Please remember the above two lessons by heart, and we'll be much stronger politically. Pass this message. Visit http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html to share your view. Best regards, S. B. Woo
Political Secrets VI: Don't Be Made A Sucker "He who doesn't learn from history deserves to relive it" -- George Santayana In the 1996 election, many Asian Ams gave &/or raised big bucks for Bill Clinton and DNC (Dem. Nat'l Comm.) & got zonked. Remember these Asian Am. names? John (F.O.B.*) Huang, Maria Hsia, Robert S. Lee (S. Korean), Yogesh K. Gandhi (Indian Am), Pauline Kanchanalak (Thai), Charlie Trie, Antonio Pan, and Johnny Chung. *Friend of Bill. All of them helped raise money for Bill Clinton &/or DNC. All of them were so eager to "serve" the politicians that they violated the law, some were jailed and fined, others were put on probation and fined. Lives ruined! For proof, see a press release issued by the Justice Dept. under the Clinton Administration: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1999/June/275crm.htm. Indeed, much worse things were said about them by GOP politicians & their press releases. Their motives might have been good -- to help the politicians they believe in and in the process help establish Asian Am. political clout. But the results were disastrous -- for themselves and our community. Day after day, mainstream media ran negative headline articles on those individuals, fanning the belief that Asian Ams were "perpetual foreigners" aiming to sabotage the American election system. Indeed, for about 2 more years, D. and R. parties competed to distance themselves from our community and went out of their way to stiff Asian Am big donors to make each Party seem clean. HAVE WE FORGOTTEN? To avoid a repeat, please be aware of the following: 1. Many politicians want you to believe that the more money you'll give or raise for them, the more you'll get a personal reward after he/she is elected. But they'll tell you that they can't discuss it in concrete terms because it is against the law. "Caveat emptor." Don't be a sucker! You may think that you are a F.O.B (Friend of Bill) or F.O.X. Chances are that neither B nor X will remember you after the election is over. He/she will have bigger interests after getting into the White House -- the affairs of the nation. 2. In contrast, you can openly press the politicians about what he/she'll do for the Asian American community. That is NOT against the law. The American forefathers had designed elections to be occasions for little people like us to protect our rights, using the "power of the ballot box." In addition, you'll feel great about yourself for having pressed politicians to do the right things for us. Only 3 Presidential candidates, Senators Biden, Dodd and Gravel, have promised in concrete terms and in iron-clad manners to help Asian Ams. achieve equal opportunity and justice, should they be elected. We are confident that many more will do so. However, before they've done so, don't help them in money or any other means! Don't be a sucker! Note that not a single Rep. presidential candidate has made a similar promise yet. Countless AsAm Republicans have given most generously to the GOP. What did they get back for our community? Ask them! Love to get your feedback. Visit http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/posterboard.html. S. B. Woo
Political Secrets VII: What An Election Is All About In America Many Asian Ams. were surprised. They ask, "How could 80-20 get away with fighting the leading presidential candidates and yet succeed in getting our grievances addressed by the same candidates?" 80-20's secret is knowing what an election is about in America. New immigrants often mistakenly believe an election is ONLY about voting for the best candidate. However, that's not all there's to it. The American Forefathers meant for elections to assure democracy. That is, during the election time, even the "weak and powerless" such as the Asian Americans, who are mostly new immigrants not knowing much about politics and not having the money* to hire lobbyists in Washington D.C., can still make politicians sit up and listen to their grievances. Each adult Asian American has a vote just like he/she who is among the "richest and mightiest." If there is a grievance that most Asian Ams resonate with**, we can deliver a bloc vote. Politicians pay attention to even a small minority such as the Asian Americans that have proven to be capable of delivering a bloc vote. That is what 80-20 is all about -- to organize our community so that our grievances will be heard during the election time and in that process help make America "a more perfect Union." But more importantly, that is what elections in America are all about -- giving the ordinary people a chance to have their grievances addressed by the political establishment. If some of the presidential candidates show that they don't share our concerns, then 80-20 PAC*** will lead a bloc vote to defeat such candidates. The real world of politics is just like the real world we see in our workplaces. Its proper functioning depends on carrots and sticks. Comments are welcome at http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/politicaledu/posterboard.asp Respectfully yours, S. B. Woo
* Actually there are many very rich Asian Americans. However, owing to their lack of interest or understanding of Am. politics, they have mostly shied away from politics or been extremely ineffective. I wish more will soon step up to shoulder their social responsibilities. ** The issue that has hit the resonant cord of a large majority of Asian Americans is their lack of equal opportunity in workplaces and, if qualified, to be Federal judges. Fortunately, most prominent Democratic presidential candidates have already made iron clad commitment to help Asian Americans achieve equal opportunity, except one -- Senator Obama. Is he too inexperienced to know that equal opportunity is America's core value? *** 80-20 Educational Foundation conducts political education only. 80-20 PAC leads the bloc vote. Political Secrets VIII: How did 80-20 build a 3 to 1 bloc vote? Q: How dare 80-20 claim credit for building a 3 to 1 bloc vote?
A: Blacks have voted about 9 to 1 for the Democratic presidential
Q: So how did 80-20 create a bloc vote? A: Have you ever attended large meetings with tens or hundreds of
Q: Why are some Asian Am. against a bloc vote? A: Most new immigrants don't realize that in America, every racial
What if we don't? Our children will continue to face a higher admission
Q: Are things improving owing to 80-20's effort? A: Definitely. Here are facts that you've personally witnessed in
11/29/07, 80-20 began to pressure Sen. Clinton with a "Call to Action."
Q: What about media attention to Asian Americans? A: Definitely increasing. "Goggle or Yahoo" to see how many articles have
Post your comments at
Respectfully yours,
PS: For those who forgot why a bloc vote is so powerful, here is the
Two candidates run against each other in a political division, which
8% of the vote is what Asian Ams have in Calif, which has by far the
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