Former Speaker Newt Gingrich to Chair Republican Hindu PAC

India West reports that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will serve as honorary chairman of the newly launched Republican Hindu Coalition.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will serve as the chairman of the newly-formed Republican Hindu Coalition, which officially launched Nov. 17 in Washington, DC.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky; along with Reps. Ed Royce, chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Pete Sessions, chairman of the House Rules Committee, attended the launch, which began with the traditional Hindu ceremony of lighting of lamps. Also in attendance were Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire; and Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin.
“An organization like the RHC could dramatically change history,” Gingrich told the audience at the launch. The former House Speaker also spoke about the “dangers of Pakistan” and “radical jihadists” which he said were a common enemy for India and the U.S.

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The 2016 Asian American Vote Is Up for Grabs & the Republicans Aim to Win It

Asian Fortune reports that through the Republican Leadership Initiative, Republicans aim to win the Asian American vote in 2016.

In next year’s presidential elections, the Republican Party is determined to capture a big chunk of the Asian Pacific American electorate, by using a winning 2013 data-driven and neighborhood-based field program. Last August, the Republican National Committee (RNC) launched the Republican Leadership Initiative. The six-week program for Asian Pacific American volunteers focused on field organizing skills, and also voter registration and voter engagement in all 50 states. The Initiative is part of the GOP strategy in achieving its 2016 goal: Win back the White House.

 

RNC is methodically expanding its Republican Leadership Initiative. Last month, Politico reported that RNC kicked off the Republican Leadership Initiative GOPVets program. The mission: Voter registration of national military and veterans and their families, and turn-out of 700,000 new voters from those communities on Election Day on November 8, 2016.

 

Remarked RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, in noting the Republican rout of Democrats in the 2014 congressional and local elections: “We are the only entity, Democrat or Republican, currently organizing efforts on this scale in states across the country as we build the largest infrastructure in our party’s history to take back the White House…Our party heads into the 2016 election with positive momentum and with the right vision to put our country back on track.”

 

APA Voter Power

 

The Republican Leadership Initiative builds on the party’s highly-successful campaign model two years ago. “Ever since 2013,” RNC Asian Pacific American Press Secretary Ninio Fetalvo said in an email, “we’ve been building relationships with the communities through our candidates. When they actively engage and build strong relationships with the community, Asian Americans come out to vote.” The all-out grassroots efforts in 2013 led to a Republican Party wave in the 2014 midterm elections.

 

Fetalvo pointed out that last August, the RNC also unveiled “a new ad aimed at recruiting Asian Americans for our Republican Leadership Initiative program.” The YouTube advertisement targeted the Millennials, people born between 1982 and 2000. The Millennials are also called Generation Y, following Generation X. A 2014 Asian American and Pacific Islander Vote survey showed that nearly three in ten (27%) of the Millennials are “undecided,” and their vote is up for grabs.

 

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