In this segment, Wylie Aitken talks about the growth of political power among Vietnamese Americans, GOP Assemblyman Van Tran’s central role in that, and what it will take for Democrats to catch up.
Aitken, an Anaheim Hills resident who has lived in Orange County since 1955, is chairman of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County and was the key figure behind Loretta Sanchez’s historic upset of Rep. Bob Dornan in 1996.
– Martin Wisckol
Is there a strategy for regaining a seat on the Board of Supervisors?
It’s definitely something that’s very much on the mind of all Democrats, particularly in this First District supervisor’s race. Now that it’s going to be a general election, now that it’s going to be 2008 and a presidential year… When does she (incumbent Supervisor Janet Nguyen) come up for reelection?
June. And if somebody gets 50 percent plus one vote in the supervisor’s race, there won’t be a November runoff.
Which very likely won’t happen. Especially if she’s challenged, if Nguyen runs against (Trung) Nguyen. She probably be one of the finalists, but then the question is who will be the one who ultimately challenges her (in November).
We have the ability to win that seat if we pick the right candidate. I know there’s a lot of discussion about who the candidate should be.
I think I told you that Loretta Sanchez thought that we should have run a Vietnamese candidate back then (in February’s supervisor’s race). And she was absolutely right. I would love to see us run a Vietnamese candidate that the Democrats could get behind. It may be too soon for us. I hope not.
I’d like to see us develop a strong Vietnamese candidate and suggest to all other Democrats – as Republicans so successfully do – not to run, so we don’t divide our vote. Your article pointed out how important it is to the Vietnamese community to have someone from that community to represent them. So they’re going to vote solidly for whoever the Vietnamese candidates are.
They may divide their vote. But we don’t want to divide their vote. We want a really good Vietnamese candidate. And there are some good people out there. We just need to convince them to put their name forward.
Any names you can share?
There’s the lady who’s on the school board, who was briefly superintendent (KimOanh Nguyen-Lam). There’s the gentleman your wrote about, the school board member (Andrew Nguyen), who probably won’t run only because he’s so close to all these people – particularly the other Nguyen (Republican Trung Nguyen). If (Trung) is going to run, I suspect that (Andrew) would not. But if (Trung) doesn’t run, I suspect that Andrew would be susceptible to running.
There are other people. Phu Nguyen, who is the lawyer and one of the owners of the TV station, the one right there on Garden Grove Boulevard (Saigon Broadcasting Television Network). He’s a Democrat and a member of the foundation. There’s a bright, young lawyer named Hoa Tran, who works with him in the law firm, who I think would be an excellent candidate. There’s a gentleman who’s an engineer – his name escapes me — he just started the Democratic Vietnamese Club (Trung Ta).
I know they’re talking about opening some offices in one of the big centers there. They gave me a tour of Little Saigon. They want to get an office there that houses all the Democrats. And I would encourage them to do what (Van Tran) did – make it all Democrats and make it also non partisan. So, everybody hang out. In fact, maybe they could get an office right next to the other (mostly GOP) one and maybe they can all hang out together.
Would you agree that Republicans have done a good job in Little Saigon?
I would agree that (Republican Assemblyman) Van Tran has done a good job in Little Saigon. I think he’s done an outstanding job and I think he’s the motor behind all of it. And they (Republicans) have more money than we have. (OC GOP Chairman) Scott Baugh has access to a lot more resources than we have.
We still from that (syndrome of) “I belong to no organized party. I’m a Democrat.” They’ve put more resources into it. They had the right person to help manage those resources.
(But) I think it’s very, very open as to the future of that community. (Democratic Rep.) Loretta (Sanchez) remains very popular. She got that popularity and support the old-fashioned way. She worked hard to get it.
I think that one of the things we have clearly not done the way we should is pour more resources and pay more attention to that particular area. I think we very much want to engage with them, but I don’t think we made it the same priority that the Republicans did.
What kind of resources and attention do you have in mind?
Well, I would think obviously money, and people going in there and registering (Democrats). Really identifying with the right leaders. There are a lot of good leaders who are Democrats. I’m engaging with these individuals to get them involved in the foundation. I went down and had lunch with them. I went down and had dinner with them.
We’ve got to pay more attention. I’ve always found it to be a fascinating community. But I never saw myself, because I have a day job, really taking the time and energy to engage. Now I’m doing it because, obviously, it’s important to do it. I have to do it on my own time. I have to try to work it into my schedule. But I really think we need to get the grassroots and the Democratic Party active there on a day-to-day basis.
One thing about Loretta – she’s always had a strong presence there. She’s always been the voice crying in the desert, saying, “We’ve got to get more people in here. We’ve got to pay more attention to it.” She was kind of doing it all on her own. She was doing it with her people, her staff from the Vietnamese community. And kind of going it alone.
We need to get everybody focused, and move into that area. It’s not even about Democrats and Republicans. It’s about… What a marvelous opportunity, to see a community that truly appreciates the right to vote. And comes out and votes.
