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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
WILL GARY LOCKE BE THE FIRST AA PRESIDENT?
ary Locke can tick off almost every qualification for a successful presidential bid: third-generation Washingtonian whose father fought in Patton's tank corps; Eagle Scout; Yale grad; former prosecutor with a tough crimefighting record; popular two-term governor in a state with arguably the nation's most successful educational system and fiscal policies; a highly telegenic wife with impeccable credentials of her own.
Significantly, Gary Locke's 26-year political career unequivocally establishes him to be a republican in democrat's clothing. Political balancing acts of that order have become de rigueur for White House aspirants from both parties, as shown by recent elections. And he's only 51.
But one misstep may haunt Locke in any quest for higher office -- he was born to Asian parents.
Locke's ties to Washington state go back to a paternal grandfather who had immigrated to Olympia at the turn of the century and worked as a houseboy before returning to China to start a family. His father James returned to Washington and fought under General Patton. Gary was born January 21, 1950 in a Seattle veterans public housing project called Yesler Terrace.
Gary worked at his father's grocery store but earned the rank of Eagle Scout and graduated with honors from Franklin High in 1968. He worked his way through Yale, earning a poli sci degree in 1972. Three years later he got a J.D. from Boston University Law School and became a deputy prosecutor in King County.
His crimefighting record got him elected to the state house in 1982 where his star rose rapidly through hard work on the Judiciary and Appropriations committees. He chaired the latter from 1988 until 1993 when he was elected chief executive of King County. That office gave Gary Locke the opportunity to prove his knack for improving social services while enforcing fiscal discipline.
Locke's popularity is undoubtedly boosted by his pretty wife, the former Mona Lee. Before their marriage in October of 1994 she was a news reporter at Seattle's KING-TV. She gave birth to a daughter in 1997, then a son in 1999. As first lady Mona has won raves by championing the causes of early learning and quality childcare.
Gary Locke has never publicly shown interest in running for national office.
Supporters see no other progression for the lifetime civil servant. They dismiss racial concerns by citing the fact that only about 6% of Washington voters are Asian, not very different from the 4% figure nationally. Some even feel that Locke's prospects for winning the presidency are better than that of any other minority politician. They cite his cleancut image combined with a sterling track record at the helm -- not to mention the likely support of the world's biggest software company.
Others believe that on the national political stage an Asian politician would have so much of an uphill battle simply trying to establish that he is an American to have a shot at getting his message across.
Could Gary Locke win a presidential election or would he be foolish even to consider a run?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:59:26 PM)
AA Male:
So, would you prefer that in order to create districts with a "minority majority" you draw up districts that don't make geographic sense? Back in the 1990s, the Supreme Court said that Racial-gerry-rigging of districts was unconstitutional and that congressional districts must make geographic sense.
Prior to thise, there were cases of the stupidity used to draw congressional districts that made no geographic sense. One district in Louisiana where they were trying to make a black-dominated district by creating one that looked like the mark of Zorro! There was another district created in Georgia that basically hugged a stretch of I-85 south of Atlanta for about 40 miles but didn't go more than 1/2 mile from the freeway. In Houston, Democratic legistlators drew a zigg-zagged maze-like district through parts of the inner loop to follow clusters of Hispanics while avoiding wealthy homes in River Oaks with the exception of the home of former president George H W Bush.
Each of those ridiculous districts was thrown out by the Supreme Court and were later replaced with geographically sensible distrcts. The truth of the matter is that you are more likely to get Minorities into political offices with geographically sensible district lines than you are with such idiotic racial gerry-rigging like was attempted in the early 1990s.
Political Analyst
Monday, March 18, 2002 at 08:26:09 (PST)
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