Biden was good as always, funny, charming, personable. He introduced his mom and connected with the audience. And then he charged hard against his old pal McCain. First, he exposed his new opponent’s weaknesses in foreign policy. And then he showed how  GOP policies have ravaged American families. I thought Biden was best as he described the conversations taking place in middle class homes across the nation,  where families are beset  by impending job loss, credit card debt, mortgage defaults.  As opposed to convention bellowing, Biden brought his voice down and I thought he really created a winning intimacy. It’s the reason Obama picked him.  Biden is the regular guy who gets it.  He seems ready for this new role. Biden’s run for the  presidency in the past always seemed somewhat like overreaching. Although, Biden has been an achiever from day one (elected to the Senate at 29), there was always one or two guys percieved to be much better. He was always No.2 or 3. And now at No.2, he looks to be a winner.

He didn’t need Bill Clinton’s build up. “I love Joe Biden,” said Clinton. He loved Obama too, showing a love that we didn’t see just months prior. “Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama,” said Clinton. “That makes two of us.”

The crowd went wild. There’s still a lot of love for the Clintons among convention goers, who greeted Clinton with an applause that wouldn’t die. When it did, the president showed his grace and charm. And I thought he gave what for him was a very short speech. This wasn’t his show. And he knew it.  This was B.O.’s sop to the Clintons and they were gracious.

Later, at a Clinton party at Coors Field, the former president spent time with members of his administration, many of whom now work for Obama. Clinton told them he was taking “the red-eye” out of town.  He apparently will not be at Mile High Stadium Thursday night for the crowning of Obama.

Not his dream.

That was part of the emotion of the night. The official transfer of Democratic love began earlier in the day when Hillary spoke to a large crowd of convention goers at a side meeting in the convention hall. In a more intimate setting than the night before], Hillary released her delegates to the dismay of supporters, some of whom cried when Hillary supported Obama on Wednesday night.  On Wednesday, some were in denial. Some needed more time to mourn. They didn’t want to give it up. And part of me sensed that Hillary didn’t either. But the rules are the rules, and politics is also about losing — and faking it well. Hillary then went to the Pepsi Center arena where she moved to suspend the roll call vote and give the nomination to Obama by acclamation.

It was the only winning touch one can put on losing.

When Bill Clinton came up later, it was really just a return gesture of respect from Obama. This is the show business part folks. The actors are playing their role and delivering their lines credibly.

We are left to speculate what they are really thinking.

The other speeches worth noting: Sen. John Kerry and Tammy Duckworth, the highest profile Asian American who had a failed bid for Congress and now is the state veteran’s department head in Illinois.

Kerry was sent out as an attack dog on McCain and did marvelously well. So well that, one had to wonder, what happened four years ago in Boston?  Kerry was so good, it was sad to see. But there can only be one winner and it was not Kerry  either the last go round, or now.

On behalf of Obama, Kerry went after McCain hard comparing the positions of Senator McCain and Candidate McCain: ” Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain’s own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you’re against it. Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.”

Man, Kerry was good. Not good enough to be president four years ago, but good enough to go on attack for B.O. Wednesday.

The night was reserved for those on the long and short lists of Obama–for whatever. it was payback. So there was the likes of Evan Bayh, Tom Daschle and Richard Daly. None of them truly memorable.

Just part of the speech drip of convention rhetoric

Most interesting was the inclusion of APA Tammy Duckworth, who is rumored to be on the shortlist to take over Obama’s senate seat if Obama wins.

Duckworth was ready for primetime. She is not a powerful speaker, but she carries a powerful elevator speech. She’s a former helicopter pilot who had her legs blown off in Iraq. Nuff said. She’s a gamer. She can deliver the tale on security.  She put her body on the line.  She has credibility.

And she mentioned her proud Asian American heritage (she’s from Hawaii).

When she walks away from the podium, her mechanical limbs are revealed and it’s a powerful image.

There were other APA speakers. Mike Honda spoke to the crowed Tuesday, as did the new hero in California, State Controller John Chiang. But Duckworth is the odds on bet to make a national splash sooner than later.

The personable Honda was at his forceful best in the intimate setting of a caucus room where he continued to be the leading APA voice in Congress on the FIlipino Veterans Equity bill that must pass by the end of September or the issue dies.

Chiang is simply California’s rising APA star, whose fight against Schwarzenegger on the state workers’ pay issue has raised his profile immensely. At this convention, he’s establishing himself and his credibility. His time will come on the national stage.

This was the last night at the Pepsi Center as the venue shifts to Invesco/Mile High Stadium Thursday. The Dems packed the hall to the gills, displacing even media members who were reassigned spots in the crowd. I found myself up in the nosebleed seats for 4 hours of speeches.

It was a rock concert atmosphere.  Melissa Etheridge helped with a rousing set that include “God Bless America,” and “Born in the U.S.A.” (Rumor has it that Bruce Springsteen and John Mellenkamp will be at Invesco Thursday).  The rock music plays into the “best practices” of how to keep a convention arena crowd engaged, i.e., “not bored.”

And when your candidate is called a “rock star” the rock concert metaphor makes more sense than it ever did.

When Barack Obama ended the night with his cameo, the place went crazy.

Conventions are like slow drips. Speech, speech, and more speech about a guy who isn’t there. He’s talked about in the third person, so much, the absence acts as a fertilizer to the mythic build up.

And then on the third night, before the official appearance on Thursday night, he’s there.

The crowd goes wild. Barack Obama is in the house. He was there in his personable “black” voice, the comfortable down home sound, that B.O. uses among family and friends. It was a street cred sound that’s different from his Harvard Law Review sound. It’s all the same guy. The multi-cultural, multi-racial guy has different sounds. And he uses them all to his advantage. He played up with Biden, referred to Biden’s mother as “Mama Biden,” and gave everyone a taste of what was to come.

Thursday is his night. His dream. Our dream? Its’ now the Democratic Party’s dream.

In Denver, she gave her supporters more than a little nudge toward  Obama.

“I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?” Clinton asked.

The party and a Nov. victory, is all, of course, bigger than Ms. Clinton. And once, APA loyalists get over that, it will be easy for old Clinton supporters to drop their hesitance and  back the Obama-Biden ticket.

It was almost too good a speech. A reminder of what could have been: Hillary giving the Thursday speech and Obama telling his supporters to back the ticket. Instead, she gives the unifying speech that Obama had to have and sets him up for the talk of his life.

After the speech, some APA women I talked to–all of whom were originally Clinton supporters–seemed to be swayed by Hillary’s message.

“The time is now to unite as a single party, with a single purpose,” Clinton said. “We are on the same team and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win together.”

Read the whole speech:

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/26/hillary-clintons-speech-at-the-democratic-convention/

That seemed to be the theme on Day One. Michelle Obama essentially went on stage to say,” Hey, I’m just like you. We’re just like you.”

In other words, “You’re not afraid of us, are you America?”

When the  O kids came out and joked it up with Dad on the Jumbotron for the TV audience,  why the Obamas were just like new Jeffersons. Or the Cosbys. Just with a tad more political ambition.  Dontcha love them?

Or not.

One of the open questions between now and November is how America’s racism will find cover in other excuses to not vote for Obama. Can America embrace the first real opportunity to send a  person of color to the White House?

No one likes to be so direct about it, but the concern is there.  How racist will America be this election?

At the  APIA Vote Gala reception at the Denver Marriott,  I bumped into Norm Mineta, the former Sec. of Commerce under Clinton, as well as the former Sec. of Transportation under Bush II.

Mineta was one of the first and most ardent Obama supporters. And he mentioned how racism could play a role.

He talked about the so-called “Bradley Effect,” where in 1982 Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African American running for governor had an 8 point lead in the polls, then lost by a 2 point margin to Republican George Deukmejian.

Voters obviously lied to pollsters and said they could vote for a black man. But then they couldn’t pull the right trigger when it counted.

Mineta said he knows of at least one Caucasian woman, a lifelong Democrat, who has admitted she’d have a hard time going through and voting for a black man.

“And I thought, in this day and age, people are still saying that,” Mineta said.

I asked him if he thought Asian Americans might be prone to the “Bradley Effect.”

“I think there was black/yellow conflict,” Mineta said. “But I don’t think it really exists today.I think we’re past it. We’ve worked too closely with the Hispanic and African-American communities. APIs aren’t that large, just 4 percent of the population. We have to worked collectively with others.”

Mineta was hopeful that Asian Americans who are still on the fence would come around, and not let race get in the way of backing the man he feels could lead America to a better future.

One supporter who spoke at the APIA Vote gala was Sen. Dan Inouye (D-Hawaii) who was one of the strongest Hillary supporters even though the Hawaii primary went to Obama by a landslide. Back then, Inouye wasn’t giving up and was saying he’d take the fight to the convention.

The venerable APIA politico and war hero was in Denver on Monday, with a new perspective.

“Let’s face,” said Inouye to the API crowd. “I was hoping and hoping that someday before I go I would be at a convention when we would nominate a member of the minority as president.”

The crowd clapped loudly.

“This is a nation of diversity,” Inouye said. “And I hope people of U.S. can set aside the emotions of the past and look forward to a greater nation of great people . I’m ready to work with everyone, and I know that you are. So let’s workfor Barack Obama.”

The crowd cheered as I stood by Mineta. The Secretary brought two fingers to his mouth to let out a loud whistle of approval.

***

Today Asian Americans will be at the convention podium. Congressman Mike Honda will talk about Asian American political power. California Controller John Chiang is scheduled if the legislative budget emergency doesn’t take precedence.  Catch it if you can. It will be our moment.

Later tonight, Hillary Clinton will speak.

If you’re a Clinton supporter, it will be bittersweet. She’s not dying like Teddy Kennedy. But I predict there will be some tears.  Still, don’t be swayed. The leading politcos in the community are saying it’s time to get on board, not just for party unity– but for the sake of the country.

I  guess that shows the power of his endorsement.

For those fearful of a black man becoming president, Biden gives Obama decent white cover. Biden was on the committee that put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. That ought to warm the cockles of conservatives’ hearts.

Now if Obama walked down the street and you saw Biden with him, you wouldn’t cross the street in fear of them would you, Mr.and Mrs. Blue Collar?

So Biden’s not too bad a choice. Indeed it was also B.O.’s best choice for “Hillary avoidance.”

It doesn’t quite appease Hillary’ fans who are still plotting some disruption going into the convention. A Biden choice may bring some fence-sitters back in line.

But it may send more of the newbies attracted to the Obama campaign at the start back to the fringe. These were the very people who gave him the edge over the old pool of voters. This is that new group of people in the mix who got excited about politics for the first time. Now they’re back on the sidelines looking at an oldie-but-goodie like Biden, who has been part of the old politics of discontent, and they’re wondering, “What sort of slimy activity is this thing called politics”?

Obama needs the generational ploy to win big. But it may cost him the zealous support that got him this far.

Check out my column on Biden at

http://www.asianweek.com/category/emil-amok/

So who’s his running mate — Lucy? Nothing like a generational joke about a pioneering, very public mixed marriage couple (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz who was not a desi but a Cubano) to get this week’s column started.

B.O., an agent for change, has done a little Lucy-like (as in Australopithecus) digging from among the bones of ancient Democratic presidential aspirants to unearth the most hyped vice-presidential possibility thus far: Sen. Joe Biden. Now that the liberal Delaware dinosaur’s hair plugs look more natural, he’s ready for his close-up!

Biden came on the scene 17 years ago as the chair of the Senate Judiciary committee presiding over the infamous Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. Biden could have been a bit harder on Thomas, Bush One’s affirmative action pick to the High Court. He certainly could have done more to prevent Hill from being a victim of a GOP race-card ploy.

But now the senator finds himself as the front-runner to become Obama’s “white race card,” the person who could bridge white fears and multi-colored hopes.

If Biden is the choice for second banana this weekend, view it as Obama’s level best at what I call “Clinton avoidance.”

To win it all, Obama needs the appeal of his former rival Hillary Clinton or a reasonable facsimile — quick. His star is fading faster than the paint on an aging Nader Corvair. A new Reuters/Zogby poll showed John McCain taking a five-point lead among likely voters—46 percent to 41 percent. The McCain resurgence gives him the lead for the first time and wipes out a 7-point advantage Obama held in some polls back in July.

But is it enough to make B.O. choose Hillary as his mate? Hmm, are there enough legs in the pantsuit?

Enter Biden, with a set of Hillary-like traits. He’s strong in foreign policy and plays to blue-collar whites. And if you can forgive him for letting Thomas onto the Supreme Court, then he may be acceptable to most people of color.

Obama may do anything he needs to win—except tap Hillary as his homegirl. Barring that, Biden appears to be a quick fix for what Obama needs: the best available male version of Hillary.

Obama’s preferred Asian-race card
A Biden pick might appease those 80-20 types, but it may not work for everyone. Believe it or not, there are still some die-hard Clinton loyalists among Asian Americans, hoping for a miracle at the Democratic convention next week in Denver.

Perhaps that’s why the Asian American presence at the San Francisco fund-raiser last Sunday was a tad different. Obama played an Asian race card. But it wasn’t what you’d expect in the city that’s about 30 percent Chinese.

At a time when unity among Asian Americans should be key, Obama differentiated South Asians and Pacific Islanders from the broader group and then told a South Asian crowd, “I am a desi.”

Desi, of course, refers to South Asian immigrants, who were plentiful at the big Fairmont Hotel gathering.
What was Obama doing? Showing us he’s Piyush “Bobby” Jindal’s evil twin?

That the South Asians and Pacific Islanders got special treatment possibly is the work of San Francisco DA Kamala Harris, of South Asian descent herself, and a key B.O. point person. The more obvious reason is that South Asians are writing out campaign checks with zeal.

Hey, you want me to say “I’m a desi?” That will be $2,300, please!

Why else would Obama shine a light on the South Asian and Pacific Islanders from the bulk in our group—Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Southeast Asian?

The South Asian community has grown to more than 3 million in the U.S. Last month Democrats tapped key South Asian capitalists like Yahoo’s Dilawar Syed to milk it.

That’s great. But if Obama’s goal is to instill a sense of unity, it would have been to group us all together as Democrats have in the past, so that the diversity within the broader APIA moniker could shine (Obama did hold an APIA fund-raiser in July in D.C.; but when he comes to the most Asian city in the nation, South Asians are highlighted?)

What will he say before a group of Chinese who remain on the fence right up to the convention? Or to Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese,et al? Will he lead them in a Bollywood rendition of “God Bless America”?

In campaign mode, Obama just appears to be too glib and chameleon-like for his own good (you didn’t see many direct answers during that “purpose-filled” interview with Rick Warren the other day). And when B.O.’s in fund-raising mode, he’s incorrigible, saying anything for a buck, shunning public financing so that he can raise and spend donations at an historic rate. This is the candidate of change? Or the candidate of calculated ambition?

The convention in Denver is billed as “Americans coming together for change.” B.O. will get his chance to convince us again why he’s the one who can redirect us to a new path toward peace and prosperity. His dipping poll numbers set him up well for an oratorical lift. Will he deliver? Will it sustain him to November? We shall see.

http://www.asianweek.com/2008/08/21/desi-obamas-new-race-cards/

So why did KNBR’s Tom Tolbert use the term “Chinaman” on the air Aug. 12 while relating to his sports-talk audience a story about a man in Hong Kong who used a piece of exercise equipment to masturbate?

I suppose a Midwest farm boy would have found his paramour among some sheep. But in urban Hong Kong, an exercise bench with small holes in it could be seen as a comely device in a pinch. However, when this resourceful guy found himself aroused, he was also stuck. He panicked, called the police, and became the butt of jokes world-wide.

The story is great fodder for a guy like Mr. T.  But did he really have to spice up an already bizarre story by using the racist term “Chinaman”?

You’d figure being based in San Francisco, a city that’s more than a third Asian, and in California where there are more Asians than African Americans, the former jock Tolbert would be a little more sensitive to his audience.

Or maybe he just prefers a double standard?

When black athletes do something dumb in the sports world, is Tolbert quick to pull out the “N” word?

Tolbert just isn’t sensitive enough to his Asian American audience.

Fortunately, the utterance was on KNBR’s weak sister, AM 1050, while the Giants were on AM680 with half-Asian Tim Lincecum on the mound (You didn’t hear? He’s not the “Freak,” nor the “Franchise.” He’s “The Filipino.”)  On AM1050, it’s likely a small number of people heard Tolbert’s racism. But my reader, a blogger named Derek Wizzle,  heard it, wrote about it, and was pretty miffed.

He also didn’t hear an apology and wanted one.  I contacted Lee Hammer, the program director at KNBR and got no reply at that point.

On Wednesday, Aug.13,  on KNBR 680 around 3:15 pm, Tolbert came back on the air and admitted to his idiocy.

One problem. Tolbert said he apologized on Tuesday immediately after he said the word the first time.

Hmm.  When was Tolbert racist and when did he know it?

It matters because if he didn’t say it “immediately after,” he’s lying and covering up.

I e-mailed Hammer a second time and asked if I could hear a taped air-check of the original use of the word on KNBR 1050.

Hammer didn’t mention a tape and only replied tersely that the apology was given immediately as it was said.

Wizzle said he heard nothing that sounded like “I’m sorry for using a stupid word,” or words to that effect when he was listening to AM1050 around 6:30 pm on Aug. 12.

The significance of all this is that Tolbert has a history of supporting racist speech.

A few years back, when Shaquille  O’Neal mocked and mimicked Yao’s broken English publicly it was every bit as bad as the Spanish basketball team’s slant-eyed mockery of the Chinese at this year’s Olympics.

Tolbert, who was then a more prominent analyst on ABC, actually defended Shaq’s slur and engaged in a mini on-air debate with fellow commentator, the basketball great Bill Walton. Walton’s position was the correct one. Shaq’s comments were out-of-line and racist. Tolbert’s weak defense was that it was all an obvious joke.

Ha-ha.

How many times have we heard racists excuse their behavior by saying, “Can’t you take a joke”?

Tolbert’s loutish charm has taken him far.  But his less than rigorous attitude toward obvious racism and his off-handed display of it on his show actually helps to perpetuate what becomes society’s  “acceptable racism”

Is it really OK to say “Chinaman” if you apologize immediately after?  It should never have been mentioned in the first place. No one says “Chinaman” unless you’re ignorant or racist.

An apology only applies a nice gauze to the wound.

Don’t forget to read this week’s column at:

http://www.asianweek.com/2008/08/21/desi-obamas-new-race-cards/

But more important to APAs is how it really exposed the schism within our community.

That South Asians and Pacific Islanders got a more intimate fly by with B.O. that night is significant.

It really shows how little post-primary unity exists within the broader Asian Pacific Islander community. Asian Americans in California, primarily Chinese, were for Clinton in the California primary and many have been reluctant to fully embrace B.O.

Why else would Obama differentiate the South Asian and Pacific Islanders from the bulk in our group–Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Southeast Asian?

I’m sure it was in deference to one of his point people out west, SF DA Kamala Harris, herself a South Asian.

But if he wanted to attract those on the fence, what does it signal to other Asian Americans when the most quotable thing of the night is Obama saying,

“Not only do I think I’m a desi, but I’m a desi.” (Desi is the insider’s term referring to South Asian).

What will Obama say to a group of his supporters who are Chinese? Filipinos? Koreans?

“I am a Berliner”?

(Oh, I forgot. Evoking Kennedy is an early Bill Clinton thing. Though himself a globetrotting presumptive nominee, B.O.’s thing is MLK).

The chameleon-like Obama is appearing to be someone who will say anything for a buck. He’s raising and spending money at an historic rate. This is the candidate of change? Or the candidate of calculated ambition?

The way B.O. glad handed from the South Asian event to the more mainstream $2,300 a plate dinner that attracted mainstream liberals (folks like developer Walter Shorenstein, and Peter Pastreich of Sausalito, former head of the SF Symphony) looks like the activity of a master traditional pol, not exactly what I’d call a “man of the people.”

Don’t they know that leaves no hand free to give the guy next to you bunny-ears? What kidders, these Spanish guys. Or what great racists.

OK, maybe the team missed out on their Siesta time, and weren’t thinking straight. Wasn’t anyone involved (especially the ad agency types who used the picture in a Spanish newspaper) thinking that perhaps the Chinese would take offense?

Meanwhile, we sensitive Asian Americans certainly have taken offense. The Organization of Chinese Americans are incensed. As it should be. Asian, Asian American, the slur impacts us all.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2540221/Spanish-basketball-red-faced-over-slit-eyed-Olympic-photo.html

As you know, the Chinese women beat the error-prone American women and now there’s all this talk about whether the little Chinese girls are old enough to compete against relative senior citizens on the American squad.

Among gymnasts, apparently you’re in your prime when you’re 12. Beating up on little old ladies in their late teens and 20s is considered taking unfair advantage.

Not since the Philippines team was disqualified from the Little League World Series for playing overage kids has there been such a controversy!

The Chron’s Scott Ostler reports that IOC President Jacques Rogge said each country was responsible for policing itself, and that the IOC couldn’t possibly “go and check every one of the 10,500 athletes present.”

Why not? If you can do a urine check for drugs, you should be able to check an age document. Youth sports coaches know that lying about your age and using false documents is fairly standard in some circles.

Still, are American gymnastics fans making excuses for the U.S. team?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFZ5I7Ab7zM