ENHANCED ARMENIAN ACTIVISM WILL PAY GOOD DIVIDENDS IN
FUTURE ELECTIONS
09-11-2004 17:40:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
The re-election of Pres. Bush is not expected to result in
any substantial changes in U.S.- Armenia relations during the
next four years. Pres. Bush will most probably have his hands
full for some time to come dealing with other more pressing
issues that would command his full attention. Nevertheless,
should unexpected complications arise with the Bush
Administration regarding Armenian issues, Armenian-Americans can
try to resolve them by: 1) Working with their Democratic and
Republican friends in the House and the Senate; and 2) Using the
connections that some Armenian-Americans have developed with
Bush Administration officials as a result of their support for
Pres. Bush in the presidential election. Since most
Turkish-Americans, just like most Armenian-Americans, backed the
candidacy of Sen. Kerry, the Bush Administration is not expected
to favor either one of these communities simply because of their
votes on November 2nd.
It is noteworthy, however, that one of the most respectable
journalists in Turkey, Mehmet Ali Birand, wrote an opinion
column on Pres. Bush's re-election in the Nov. 4, 2004 issue of
the Turkish Daily News with the following headline: "Osama bin
Laden is very happy with the results." He went on to say,
"Ankara is [also] happy with the results." Birand does not
explain the reasons why both Osama and Ankara are happy with
Bush's re-election and what the two have in common!
I would also like to mention the following incredible
statement made by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul: "We are
Turks. If necessary, we burn a whole quilt for a flea!"
According to the Nov. 4, 2004 issue of the Turkish newspaper
Zaman on-line, Gul made that statement in a letter he sent to
the European Union, complaining about parts of the report issued
by the EU on Turkey's application for membership. Foreign
Minister Gul's undiplomatic and threatening statement should be
reason enough to disqualify Turkey from the European Union! It
does not look like this "modern" and "European" Turkish official
is much different from his Ottoman predecessors!
Armenians, on the other hand, were much more gracious and
diplomatic. As a routine protocol as well as a positive gesture,
the President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, sent a letter to
Pres. Bush last week congratulating him on his re-election.
Similar congratulatory letters were sent by various
Armenian-American organizations, including the Armenian Assembly
of America and the Armenian National Committee of America.
One major positive by-product of the presidential campaign
was the fact that, for the first time, the Armenian-American
community was very extensively involved in practically all
aspects of the election. In addition to issuing political
endorsements of candidates by Armenian-American political
organizations, Armenian individuals contributed heavily to the
campaigns of both Pres. Bush and Sen. Kerry. In addition,
hundreds of Armenian-Americans were involved in day-to-day
campaign activities, everything from manning phone banks, going
door to door in various states, sending supportive postcards to
Armenians in swing states, organizing campaign events, etc. This
is a far cry from previous presidential elections when most
Armenian-Americans would just sit back, waiting to see if the
winning candidate would keep the promises he made to them during
the campaign.
Armenian-Americans were not just voters in the 2004
elections. More than a dozen Armenian-Americans were candidates
for various political offices. I am happy to report that most of
them were successful in getting elected or re-elected:
Congressional races: The two Armenian-American members of
the House of Representative, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Rep.
John Sweeney (R-NY), were re-elected;
State Senate races: State Assemblyman Joe Simitian (D-CA)
won, joining Chuck Poochigian and Jackie Speier in the
California State Senate; while candidates Harry Haytayan (R-NH)
and Danny Tarkanian (R-NV) lost;
State Assembly races: Greg Aghazarian (R-CA), Brad Avakian
(D-OR), John Garfield (R-MI), John Fresolo (D-MA), John
Geragosian (D-CT), Rachel Kaprielian (D-MA), Peter Koutoujian
(D-MA), and Jim Miceli (D-MA) were elected or re-elected; while
Rita Topalian (R-CA), Aida Aloian (R-PA), and Jasper Bedrosian
(R-RI) lost their bids;
Mayoral races: Scott Avedisian (Warwick, RI) and Kirk
Cartozian (Downey, CA) were successfully re-elected.
In order to accomplish the political objectives of the
Armenian-American community, Armenians must be actively involved
in political campaigns and help elect Armenians as well as
supportive non-Armenians. Even though for many
Armenian-Americans their preferred presidential candidate did
not win, they nevertheless made good progress and gained
significant capital in terms of heightened political
participation and experience, which they would hopefully be able
to convert to future victories.