All posts tagged: obama

Should President Obama visit Laos?

Published by Bryan Thao Worra

As reported on Voice of America, “President Barack Obama is set to visit Burma this month, as part of a four-day trip to Southeast Asia. The president will also stop in Thailand and Cambodia. Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit Burma and Cambodia.  The trip is scheduled for November 17-20.” Will he make a side trip to Laos? Granted, it’s already been a big year with U.S. Secretary of State Clinton making the first trip back to Laos this summer, making it the first time since 1955 that a Secretary of State visited the country. In a July 11th article in the Huffington Post, Bradley Klapper pointed out “Laos is the latest test case of the Obama administration’s efforts to “pivot” U.S. foreign policy away from the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The efforts follow a long period of estrangement between Washington and a former Cold War-era foe, and come as U.S. relations also warm with countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam.” When she came, she spent less than half-a-day there. But …

The Lao Minnesotan Voice and Vote In 2012

Published by Bryan Thao Worra

Like the old Lionel Ritchie song, Lao Minnesotans could go all night long debating what worked and what didn’t with the elections, what surprised us and what we had confirmed. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a nail-biter of an election, with so many opportunities and so many risks for our community in play. There are many areas where Lao Americans need to understand our potential for impact and where we we have room to grow. Where’s the outreach? Neither DFL nor GOP candidates made much election-specific outreach to Lao Minnesotans this year. Once we do decide on a candidate, we often vote repeatedly for clear friends of the community. We met almost no one new this year. There were very few overtures made to address our specific concerns on key issues for Lao Americans in any language. Little was done by party operatives to help our community get out the vote or provide voter assistance.  That may have cost a few key races, particularly in St. Cloud. Where were the Lao …