Yesterday, the Vietnamese American community suffered a step back in the political arena as Anh “Joseph” Cao, the first Vietnamese American in US Congress, lost his seat to Cedric Richmond in the 2nd Congressional District of Louisiana. At 9PM yesterday night, Cao delivered his concession speech to supporters and pledged for a smooth transition.
In 2008, Cao had a surprising victory over incumbent William Jefferson. He was the first Republican to serve his district since 1891. In his two-year term, Cao became known as a very moderate Republican, voting with Democrats several times, according to New Orleans local network WDSU.
Although we might poke fun at Congressman Cao a few times (episode 1 of “Something Something with Jennie Le” starting at 2:50) , I am personally very proud of his accomplishments. The district Congressman Cao competed in has a population of about 650,000, of which only 2.7% are Asians. Joseph Cao’s victory in 2008 showed that he was able to appeal outside of a niche demographic and opened the door for many Asian Americans in US politics.
Though yesterday was a step back for Congressman Cao, at 43, he still has a long career ahead of him. I wish him the best.
Video: Congressman Joseph Cao delivers his Concession Speech
There will be others. Believe it. Though not a fan of Van Tran, but he nearly rocked the vote against Sanchez.
Rest assured, there will be others.
I’m not so sure I can agree that “Joseph Cao’s victory in 2008 showed that he was able to appeal outside of a niche demographic”–the man won on a fluke, and he’s even admitted that himself. His then appointment William Jefferson was under scrutiny for various allegations and that pretty much left a damper in his campaign. Being a two-party country, Cao just rode a wave into office.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is a step back, because ultimately the candidate who can serve his/her district best should win, regardless of race. And I wouldn’t say he opened the door for Asian Americans; there are splatterings of Asian Americans who preceded him in office here and there.
Still, he seems like a genuinely kind guy. I’m not sure he was made for politics since he seems a bit on the aloof side, but I do admire him for all he’s overcome.
Katrina has subsided and so Anh Joseph Cao Political Career
More than a year ago I wrote an article for Nha Magazine about the election of the first Vietnamese American Congressman- Anh Joseph Cao. In this article I suggested the newly elected Congressman to open an investigation on the racially charged shootings the day after Katrina, to show that he cares about the community and constituents he represented. This could be one of his strategies to get re-elected as the Republican Congressman in a majority democratic New Orleans 2nd District. Since then Attorney General Eric Holder has opened an investigation to charge a white man with racially motivated shooting of blacks in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Another cover-up incident where two former New Orleans Police Officers opened fire on a group of unarmed civilians, killing two and wounding four. If Cao had initiated these investigations and changed his party affiliation right after winning the election to either Independent or Democrat he could have possibly saved his seat. I wonder if the congressman ever read this article I wrote almost two years ago. My guess is that opening investigations on the racially charged killings would be too controversial of a topic for the Junior Congressman to take on.
Originally the Mr. Cao ran for another local office in Lousiana as an Independent. Mr. Cao told SPAN that the reasons he joined the Republican Party because of the anti-abortion and ‘family values’ they stand for. There are plenty of Blue Dog Democrats who are pro-life. Seeing the GOP’s hypocrisy, in hind sight, I wonder if Mr. Cao ever contemplates if the GOP’s relentless ‘NO’ stands on helping the average Americans are aligned with his own values. After all, some of his positions particularly on healthcare reform are in line with President Obama.
Below is the unedited article I wrote for Nha Magazine (based in San Jose, no longer in print) which includes an interview with the Congressman. Please feel free to post or email me your reaction to the article on Mr. Cao. There are links to two documentaries & information on A Village Called Versailles on the after-math of Katrina you can watch. Here is also a funny video of the congressman in action at the house during his short reign.
Hai-Ho
hai_ho@hotmail.com
Please click on my name for the previously written article and interview with Congressman Cao.