Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for president. I am waiting for people like Donald Trump who demanded Obama verify that he was born in the U.S., to come out and say that Cruz is not eligible.  If people like Trump would not say that Cruz is ineligible, then why all the fuss about where Obama was born?  If being born in the U.S. is needed to be president, then Cruz is not eligible since he was born in Canada.  I personally think that if someone is an offspring of an American citizen and lived in the U.S. most of his life then he is eligible.  I think the original intention of the founding father was to prevent someone born in England become president and possibly undermine our independence.  In any case, I am still waiting for Trump and others who demanded proof even when proof was already given, say what they think since there is proof that Cruz is not born in the U.S.

I didn't see the comment from LBOAYM from the last blog till today.  The article of the artist is very interesting.  Our family, like many immigrant families from China, are from Taishan of Guandong province.  We were considered poor uneducated hillbillies in China.  Yet many immigrants from that area have flourished, not only in the U.S. but also Canada, Europe and Southeast Asia.  Lee Kuan Yew would be an example of descendants from Guandong province who went on to do great things.  By the way, Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN's GPS program, said today that Lee was the most interesting man in the world.  Very few people in the U.S. know about him and it is too bad.  Most people in the U.S. probably think the most interesting man in the world is that guy in the Dos equis beer commercial!

The Chinese Exclusion Act was all to real.  We are a country of immigrants but our treatment of immigrants is no where near the ideal that we were taught in school.  The quote on the Statue of Liberty:  Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...."  is well known to school children but the Chinese Exclusion Act?  I would bet 95% of college educated Americans had no idea of its existence.  What native born Americans don't realize is that the people who are willing to make a horrible journey, face discrimination and still work very hard are the people who push this country forward.  Without the drives of immigrants, we will lose our world leading status in a very short time.  We, the Chinese immigrants, have to remember those who came before us, our Jackie Robinsons.  It was their dedication and suffering that made it so much easier for us today.

Last week Barbara Boxer announced that she won't run for reelection to the senate.  So finally one of the 3 big elected office in California will be taken by fresh blood.  Dianne Feinstein will most likely not run the next time she is up for election and Jerry Brown will be term limited out in 4 years.  So will see an era of new leadership in California over the next few years.  Given the high percentage of Hispanics and Asians in the state, one would think that these positions can very well be filled by one or more minorities.  And given that the state is dominated by Democrats, you would think that minorities from the state would also be national leaders in the Democratic party.  But that does not appear to be the case.

In fact the most likely minority candidate for Boxer's job is Kamala Harris, the black state attorney general.  There are no Latino or Asian candidate that is likely to win this state wide election at this time.  Among Asians only John Chiang, the former controller and present state treasurer, is even a viable candidate.  And since he just won election for treasurer in November, I think he is a few years away.  I also think that voters have less trouble voting for an Asian to a position involving math than voting for him to be a chief executive or national office.  Part of the problem for minorities is that the Big Three have been there so long that nobody has any experience running in competitive state offices.

But interesting enough, while California and the Democrats are not producing any viable minority national politicians, the Republicans are actually doing a better job of this.  Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Bobby Jindhal come to mind.  I think this is due to Republicans are trying to look not so white.  So any minority who claims to be a conservative Republican is going to get support from the party in races that are winnable.  The Democrats can wheel out any white liberal in a state like California and win anyway.  So while demographic changes in the future would seem to favor Democrats, if they take minorities for granted, they can lose their advantage.  I think as Hispanics and Asian move up the economic ladder, the Republicans will gain a higher percentage of them.  So will see if the Democrats notice this and try to consolidate the minority base by promoting more minority candidates in California over the next few years.