WASHINGTON: The Indian American Center for Political Awareness hosted Neera Tanden of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) as part of its Summer Speakers Series on July 10 at its offices in Washington D.C. Approximately 50 people gathered to hear the director of policy discuss her experiences and then take questions from the crowd.

Tanden began her political ascent by volunteering for then Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis’ presidential campaign in 1988. At age 18, she was a precinct leader and she encouraged all of the young people in the audience to get similarly involved no matter how young they were. Tanden went on to be a press aide for the Clinton/Gore campaign in 1992 and this enabled her to work for the Clinton administration. Before joining the DCCC she was deputy campaign manager for the Hillary Clinton for Senate race, where she also helped coordinate policy for the then-candidate.

Tanden addressed many questions, including queries on balancing family and political life as a South Asian-American woman. “Well the White House is just a pressure-filled environment for anyone. There is so much scrutiny. Hillary’s office, where I worked, was very supportive of women in this balancing act. She was a mother too and that made her very compassionate about such issues... very few people left Hillary’s staff.”

When asked about how to get South Asian Americans elected to national office, Tanden replied: “Campaign about policies that are specifically important to your constituents. Be responsive to their needs and concerns first. Then target your likely voters and build a coalition of support.”

Tanden also addressed the ubiquitous comparison of South Asian-American political activism with the American Jewish lobby; “The historic relationships between India and the United States and Israel and the U.S., are different. Israel fought for democracy against the Soviets, whom India was allied with. Also, there are more Jewish Congressmen and Hill staffers... that affects things. Finally, there just aren’t as many South Asian voters as there are Jewish voters. So all of those things need to be considered.”