It became evident last week when the Democrats did not include Nevada Asian American leaders as part of the Presidential debate last Tuesday, January 15. They invited Hispanic and African American leaders to the debate.

Once they realized the snafu, Democrats held a rally specifically for the Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) community on the eve of the debate in a Chinatown shopping center in Las Vegas.

While the event may have been well attended, it missed the boat completely. Because of the short notice, many more Asian Americans could not make it out to the event. It also lacked star power. During that same time the event started, former President Bill Clinton was in the other side of town lobbying for wife Hillary in another event.
I spoke with Congressperson Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) after the event. He said in order to prevent this [being forgotten] from happening, members of the APIA community need to continue to educate and teach their congressional leaders about issues affecting the community.

"The political leadership is suffering from amnesia (when it comes to Asian Americans),” said Honda. “At best it was just an oversight. The problem is that Asian Americans are not part of the rhetoric when it comes to the presidential campaigns. They want to make sure they have the African American vote, or the Hispanic vote. But we are growing. It is our responsibility to teach and educate them about us and our issues so we can be part of that rhetoric."

Which I believe is true.