Subject: RE: For Comms Approval: Op-ed For NBC Asian America
From: "Wei, Shu-Yen" <[email-masked]>
To: "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>, "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>, "Walsh, Tom" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 12:26:57 -0700

Ok. Sending to RR2

From: Walker, Eric
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2016 3:24 PM
To: Wei, Shu-Yen; Paustenbach, Mark; Miranda, Luis; Walsh, Tom
Subject: RE: For Comms Approval: Op-ed For NBC Asian America

One add and I'm good.

From: Wei, Shu-Yen
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2016 1:20 PM
To: Paustenbach, Mark; Miranda, Luis; Walker, Eric; Walsh, Tom
Subject: For Comms Approval: Op-ed For NBC Asian America

Hey guys,
NBC Asian America reached out of us about point/counter point op-eds for APAHM, so this will be hitting sometime in the next two weeks. Any thoughts/edits welcome. KJ's name will go on this.
Thanks

My Family's Democratic Party

My family played a big role in why I became a proud member of the Democratic Party. My parents came to this country because, like many immigrants, they sought better opportunities for themselves and their children. They taught me that it was important to know what was going on in the world by having us watch the evening news each night. As I began to take a specific interest in politics, my father drove me to county Democratic Party meetings in our hometown of Reno, Nevada. I still remember him wearing his oversized gray wool jacket wearing slippers you could only find sold in Kolkata, India. Going to these meetings, and discussing the issues later around the family dinner table started off as a hobby and passion that eventually led me the job that I have today.

As the Director of AAPI Engagement for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), I spend a lot of time in similar discussions, and in subsequent actions, about how our big-tent party can keep improving on its mission of inclusion and progress. I consistently see our issues framed through my parent's eyes.

As a first-generation American, I am grateful that my parents made the choice settle in this country. Their story is the basis for my belief in treating everyone with respect and dignity. This is why I get so upset when I hear Republican presidential candidates target undocumented families and when they promote banning birthright citizenship<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-cruz-birthright-citizenship-doesnt-make-sense/> or banning and tracking<http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/> all Muslims in the United States. Democrats are fighting for comprehensive immigration reform and keeping immigrant families together under President Obama's Deferred Action programs for undocumented children and parents.

My family has always respected the fact that Democrats have campaigned on increasing education access and lowering the costs of higher education. As professionals who have worked in the STEM field, they get frustrated whenever they see or hear Republican candidates deny climate change and refuse to do anything about it. Democrats are the ones calling for and leading the shift to clean energy, proposing solutions based on scientific facts.

But being right on the issues isn't enough - you need to have the campaign infrastructure to win elections and enact positive change. The DNC has invested and built up a voter file over several election cycles that allows us to continually engage the AAPI community through similar conversations on the ground. The online tool also allows us to identify if voters speak other languages, so we can accommodate them. As a result, staffers refine and add to the information within the system year after year, so it stays current and robust.

For elections, our campaigns and state parties work with community groups to get out the vote. Our voter protection operation makes every effort to ensure access at the ballot box, because no one should have to deal with burdensome restrictions when exercising a fundamental right.

This year, the DNC launched ProgressAAPI, a series of programs, trainings and conversations that build on the work that past-AAPI Democrats have done, such as social media actions, webinars on the Convention, connecting youth to campaign opportunities, and events to get our message out. We want to make sure our policies that benefit working AAPI families are heard far and wide, and we will continue the Democratic tradition of meeting voters where they are, in person or otherwise.

The policies and inclusion efforts of the Democratic Party are nothing new, but part of a long endeavor, the results of which are widely evident now. More than 50%<http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/03/news/la-pn-dnc-asian-americans-20120903> of AAPI registered voters are Democrats, and President Obama won 73% of the AAPI vote<http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/results/president/exit-polls> in 2012. Twenty years ago, the trend was just the opposite, with 74% of AAPIs<http://observer.com/2016/02/why-asian-americans-dont-vote-republican/> voting Republican. And we understand the need to be continually engaged, even at the highest levels. President Obama has made a record number<https://www.whitehouse.gov/share/judicial-nominations> of AAPI judicial appointments, tripling the number who sit on the federal bench from eight to 25. All but one of the 14 AAPI Members of Congress are Democrats, and we are working to add to their ranks this election year.

The core principle that drives the DNC today is the same one that drew me and my parents in when I was a kid, that as Americans, we are greater together than we are on our own. Everyone deserves a fair shot to succeed, not just those already at the top. While we reflect on the advances AAPIs have made in our nation's history, we continue to push forward and demand greater progress with a Democratic Party that is part of the cause.