Sarah Palin on attacking Iran: “We can’t second guess Israel”
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.688311&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] In her much-publicized interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, Republican Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin was asked: “What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?” Her answer: PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don’t think that we should second guess the […]
Darius Shahinfar Loses Race to Represent NY-21 in Congress
Darius Shahinfar, the first generation American of Iranian descent who ran in the Democratic primary in the NY-21 Congressional race, lost last night. New York voters in the district, which includes parts of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Johnstown, voted for Paul Tonko with 39% of the vote. The low turnout election brought out over 38,000 […]
Meet one of the Iranian American Delegates at the Democratic National Convention
Emily Blout and Sara Shokravi covered the DNC for NIAC all week from Denver, but it was Sima Sarrafan who represented the Iranian American community on the floor of the convention as a DNC delegate from Washington State. Ms. Sarrafan represents the newly invigorated interest in political participation here the United States as a new […]
Dems are from Mars, Republicans are from Venus
Check out the Iran section in the Democratic and Republican party platforms. They couldn’t be more dissimilar, yet so much the same.
A Day in the Life…
Now that the convention proceedings are finished, things are markedly slowed down for everyone here in Minnesota, and we have time to go into some details we may have missed in earlier posts. If you’ve never attended a major party’s convention, let me give you an idea of what’s involved for the most dedicated participants:
In the Convention Hall During McCain’s Speech
We are sitting in the convention hall and so far 3 different protesters have unfurled signs and yelled at Sen. McCain, only to be drowned out by chants of “USA!” Honestly though, the audience seems very listless with only about 1/3rd standing during most applause lines. The loudest applause came when McCain said the words […]
Rochester’s 200 Iranian Americans
Last night I had the pleasure of sitting down with about ten IAs at a restaurant in Rochester, MN. The town of 99,000+, the third largest in Minnesota, is home of the renowned Mayo Clinic medical facility (treating the likes of George HW Bush, Henry Kissinger, Jalal Talibani, and King Hussein of Jordan), which employs […]
Of Open Bars and McCain’s Outreach efforts to the IA community
So as you would have guessed, it’s not all serious panels and speeches at these political conventions. Just like the Democrats in Denver, the Republicans know how to let loose and have a lot of fun – with a characteristic penchant for spending money freely. Of the many sights and sounds one takes in […]
Debating Iran Policy – Republican experts don’t hold back
Within an hour of having landed at Minneapolis airport (and having to pass up our golden opportunity to visit it’s infamous bathroom), Patrick and I found ourselves going through 3 layers of security and 5 iterations of having our names checked off of the RSVP list for the IRI panel. No, I promise that […]
NIAC at the Conventions Continued: The RNC
The DNC has come to a close. John McCain has chosen Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential nominee. Half of Washington has just returned from Denver, while the other half is gathered in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. And with that, the RNC is just beginning. NIAC’s Assistant Legislative […]
Yes, We Can!
Guest post by Negin Sobhani NIAC is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 c(3), and therefore does not endorse candidates for political office. The following article should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any candidate for any office, and reflects solely the personal opinion of the author. I understand Michelle Obama now more than ever. On […]
Kerry to be the next Biden?
You probably noticed that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry had a pretty public role at the convention. This is not only because he was the democratic presidential nominee last time around, it’s also because he’s positioned to be the dem’s next foreign policy authority in Congress.