“We expected a lot but nothing has changed. America has become a third world country,” physician Sampat Shivangi, a three-time delegate to the convention from Mississippi, told India-West. “Obama has had four years already to change it and I doubt he can do it in the next four years,” said Shivangi, president of the Indian American Forum for Political Education, one of the oldest organizations of Indian American activists. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and his vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan have both the vision and business acumen to turn the faltering U.S. economy around, stated Shivangi.
In an unprecedented move, four Indian Americans took prime-time spotlights at this year’s RNC. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley — earlier hinted as a possible running mate for Romney — took center stage on the evening of Aug. 28 and bashed the president for “fighting American ingenuity.”
California congressional challenger Ricky Gill – widely considered a rising Republican Party star – was delayed by a day from delivering his speech at the convention by the expected onslaught of Hurricane Isaac, which partially set back the RNC’s planned agenda. In his brief address on the afternoon of Aug. 28, Gill characterized California’s Central Valley – from where he is running — as “a cautionary tale of false policies” (I-W, Aug. 31).
Also in the limelight at the RNC were Milwaukee, Wisc., businessman Yash Wadhwa, who spoke on the convention floor Aug. 29. Wadhwa, who helmed an engineering consultancy firm for 22 years and is now running for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly, said Obama’s failed economic policies had turned the nation into a “tent city.” (See separate story.) And Ishwar Singh, president of the Sikh Society of Central Florida, made history as he delivered an invocation on the final night of the RNC, becoming the first-ever Sikh American to address a national convention from either party. (See separate story.)
Haley was born into a Sikh family but identifies as Christian.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was also scheduled to speak at the RNC, but stayed home as Hurricane Isaac prepared to blast into his state. This is the second convention Jindal has missed due to inclement weather; Hurricane Gustav kept Jindal from attending the RNC in 2008.
Republican political strategist Rina Shah, who attended the RNC, told India-West the convention “really enlightened a great many people,” including the crucial undecided Asian American bloc.
Read More: http://indiawest.com/news/6453-indian-american-republicans-blast-obama-at-rnc.html
