TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'm DOING

Hi. I'm Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact, and you're listening to Trust Me. I Know What I'm Doing.
Yeah. My name is Abhay Dandekar, and I share conversations with talented and interesting individuals linked to the global Indian and South Asian community.

It's informal and informative, adding insights to our evolving cultural expressions, where each person can proudly say trust me, I know what I'm doing. It's election week here in the US, so on trust me, I know what I'm doing, we're sharing Lotus for POTUS conversations, hearing insights from leading edge voices to help inform us and get out that vote. A few months ago, I created a meme with a photo of vice president Harris that went, in Sanskrit, Kamala means lotus. In America, Kamala means POTUS. And for me and many others, that sentiment sums up the urgent choice we're making at the highest level being thoughtful about our past, present, and future.

Not just for our community, but for every community of voters of any age in the US, what it all comes down to is showing up and exercising the ultimate demonstration of trust and individual power in a democracy, which is casting your vote in a free and fair election. Indian Americans and South Asian Americans are the fastest growing voter block in the US, having the power to be the true margin of victory in many places. And as civic engagement continues to grow and foundationally expand, the work of organizing and mobilizing and activating at local and national levels becomes more complex and genuinely imperative. With over 60 endorsed candidates across the country this past election cycle, Indian American Impact is doing just that, making a difference with a thoughtful and action oriented approach. And as the last push is upon all of us after such a long and incredibly grueling road, it was great to catch up with executive director, Chintan Patel, and getting right to it after traveling to many battleground states recently.

As Chintan introduced himself and his work, I also asked him to describe the tone and temperature of what he's seeing and feeling out there in the community.

My name is Chintan Patel. I'm the executive director of Indian American Impact Fund. We're a national organization that's working specifically to help increase representation for our communities. So helping elect Indian and South Asian Americans up and down the ballot, not just, obviously, but very excited to help elect the first South Asian president, but also down ballot as well.

And the other core mission that we have is to help increase participation and engagement from our community in the electoral and civic advocacy, political advocacy space. That's voting, obviously. We wanna continue to increase, voter turnout in our communities, but also, you know, everything from donating and volunteering and engaging in the policy process, calling your members of congress and state legislators. So we've been at work doing just that, this election cycle. Over the last, you know, year, we've been hard at work, supporting candidates who are running up and down the ballot.

We obviously have, 2 incredible, candidates who are running for congress this year who would join our 5 members of the so so called samosa caucus, Suhas Subramanyam in Virginia's 10th congressional district, and Amish Shah who's running in a red to blue race in Arizona's 1st congressional district. So that's an incredible opportunity. We have candidates running down ballot in really important critical, state legislative seats. Take for example, Anna Thomas in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Democrats have a one seat majority in the state house.

Anna Thomas's district, she's running to defeat an incumbent Republican. It's a tipping point district. It could come down to her district in terms of who wins or loses the PA house. And, you know, we have a South Asian candidate there. Ashwin Ramaswamy, an amazing Gen z candidate who's running for state senate in Georgia, in one of the only competitive states in its, seats there.

So we have these incredible candidates that we've we've been working with all year in terms of supporting their campaigns, in terms of mobilizing our community to make make sure they have the resources they need, running paid advertising programs to support their campaigns, help them win their primaries, and now help them win their general elections. But then, on that fateful day, you know, I'm sure we all remember July 21st, we had the vice president, you know, announce her candidacy for the presidency and and, you know, almost immediately. I mean, within minutes, we saw this outpouring of enthusiasm from our community. They were excited to volunteer. They wanted to know what can they do.

Like, they like, we've never canvassed before, but we're ready. We wanna do it. We've never phone banked. We wanna do it. We've never text banked.

Where can I get postcards? I I wanna write postcards to our community. Where can I donate? So there is this incredible enthusiasm that popped up that has stayed throughout these last three and a half months and increased as well. Impact, we've been on the ground, mobilizing in, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, these last three and a half months.

Yesterday, I was in, Michigan. We had an incredible slate of events, starting with the Canvas launch with Pramila Jayapal and Mark Ruffalo, the Incredible Hulk, and then, ended with a Diwali celebration at an early vote site, with Maya Harris, and, you know, the incredible energy from the community is really reaching this crescendo. We understand what's at stake. Our community understands what's at stake, in this election. There is really a true contrast in visions, you know, and we're talking obviously in the Diwali holiday season as well.

And, it's not lost on me that in very real ways, this election is about good versus evil. It's about, you know, light over darkness. It's about hope over despair. It's about knowledge over ignorance, and I think the community is really galvanized around that. They see the threat that former president Trump can pose, and they're not taking anything for granted.

We saw even, you know, yesterday at the canvas launch, we saw first time door knockers out there. They're like, we, you know, we weren't sure we weren't sure if this was for us, but we just we couldn't leave it to chance. We couldn't risk, Trump winning again. So we have to do everything possible to help. And, you know, for for for the volunteers that we're talking to, you know, the representation is a big piece of it, being able to turn on your TV and see someone who looks like you.

But it's about the policies too. It's about the vision that she has that's going to help our families. So that was a long way of me answering. The energy is, is really something else from our community. They've really engaged, in a big way.

They're excited to see, the vice president use her lived experience. You know, we haven't even talked about this yet, but, the caregiver's plan. Right? The caregiver's plan is such a great example of why representation matters because our communities, we know from a personal experience, we're taking care of our elders and raising our kids at the same time, and that creates an undue burden, economic stress, mental stress, and nobody else. No candidate, no president has ever specifically highlighted and and put out an agenda and a plan to help caregivers.

And this is possible because of who she is. It's amazing. I mean, the connections and all the different tentacles in within our community are huge. And I'm glad you mentioned up and down the ballot. There's so many candidates that Impact is is supporting and and really making sure that their their message is amplified out there, not to mention, of of course, the the theme of this latest stream of podcast with the meme that I made, the Lotus for POTUS, and getting out there is is critical.

And, yes, if we can make it all about Diwali and make that the metaphor going forward all the time, I think we would all be very well served. I I wanna ask you because you have a front row seat, of course, to especially getting people enthusiastic, but also making them feel how imperative this is. Right? So there are still those out there who feel like they have an apathy towards this. There are still those out there who feel like they're struggling because of, you know, some insecurity, whatever that might be, right, in in getting out there to vote in any of the candidates, but particularly in what's going on at the presidential level.

What do you either think is causing this? And for that matter, as someone who's been canvassing and really working so hard at this, what is it that gets them to the finish line Yeah. And really gets them out there? Yeah. Look.

We're, every election cycle. I know we find ourselves saying this is the most important election in our lifetimes. It's existential. Right. And, you know, it it's not lost on me that, the selection is happening sort of in in the backdrop of, a war that has gone on in the Middle East for a year, over a year now.

And that's something that impacts our communities specifically. It's happening in the backdrop of, you know, we we've recovered from COVID, but there's still lingering parts of damage from COVID, particularly to the economy. We've seen, you know, the increasing cost of things like groceries, etcetera. And and we're also, you know, having this election in a backdrop of a a truly divided country, where, you know, there there's been part of this MAGA movement that Trump has, created, that he has fueled, that he continues to fuel, that has really divided this country. And I think, you know, it it creates this context where, it is tough.

It is tough for some people to, you know, make that decision, to vote for one candidate or another, or to vote 3rd party, or to sit it out. You know, sit on your couch and not vote and express your, you know, displeasure or the fact that you're undecided, register it by not voting. I think one of the things that's important for us as organizers is to acknowledge this. I think Almost have that empathy, if you will. Exactly.

Anytime you're doing organizing work,you're not going to get people to move by simply saying your concerns, they're not valid. You know, put them aside. This is about something bigger. It it is. It is about something bigger.

It is about, do women have the ability to make decisions about their own bodies? It is about that. Is it about, do we have our communities? Are they gonna be safe from gun violence? Is it is it about our communities are gonna be safe from the awful, awful side effects of climate change?

It is about Right. Are our families going to be able to stay together in a world where we have one party vehemently and, you know, outspokenly advocating for mass deportations. It is about these existential crises, but simply saying, hey. Your concerns, the reasons why you're having a hard time making this decision, they're not important. Put them aside.

That is not how you organize. That is not how we mobilize and and and persuade voters and get them to the get them to our side and get them to go out and vote. So I think it's incumbent on us as organizers, as people who want to see an outcome for our country that helps all Americans to meet voters where they are, to to have that discussion with empathy, to talk about the issues that impact our families, that are going to impact their families, and have a honest discussion. And I think if we can do that you know, at the doors, this is a good example. Right?

At the doors, you even today, even yesterday, we ran into voters who were undecided, who Yeah. Weren't sure they were gonna vote. The best way to to move them forward is to have an honest discussion about what are the issues, what what are the feelings and the issues that are preventing them from, you know, voting or preventing them from voting for for Harris and talking about from your own perspective, why is this election important? Why is it important to support Kamala Harris? Why is her vision the vision we want to see for our country?

One of the things I will you know, inevitably I turn to in these conversations is, my kids. I have 2 kids. I have, almost 4 year old and an 18 month old. I have, a niece and a nephew, who are, you know, 12 10, and, they think about the country that they're gonna grow up in. I think about, you know, the world where Donald Trump is president again.

And over the next 4 years, he's gonna be on TV. He's going to be spewing his betrayal and anger and and hate, for everyone to see, and he's going to be enacting policies that are going to hurt our kids on a daily basis. Yeah. So I I I like to close on that. Right?

We all for our families, for our kids, for our daughters, for our for our mothers, for our our sisters, like, this election is important. We cannot set it out, but we have to meet voters where they are. And I think it's so important to remember that when you lead with empathy, when you actually build some common connection, whether that's through children, whether that's through, you know, reproductive rights, any issue there is, there's some common thread there. Yep. And being able to sort of, like, host that conversation with honesty and openness and, in a way that's the sort of antidote to apathy.

And the reminder, of course, that you can be an evangelical. You can actually be very staunch in your beliefs. Your vote does not actually stop that. That's right. You know, your vote voting with your conscience and really thinking about that vitriol and thinking about what the what the options are here and what's at stake.

I'm curious for you. You've knocked on thousands of doors now. Right? I mean, like, you've been canvassing. You've been doing it.

And with so many with a huge team and with a huge team of volunteers, what have been 1 or 2 of the very surprising lessons that you've learned this cycle so far that, I mean, again, we we've said this for for months, even years now, that we know these candidates. Mhmm. we know Donald Trump. This is we're not unearthing brand new things here. Yeah.

But for you personally, what what's been some of the surprises that particularly have struck you these past few weeks or months? Yeah. I mean, look. One of the surprises that I'll, I don't surprise might not be the right word for it. But one of the things that, I think has been and I I've been doing political work for, 15, 20 years now.

And, you know, I joined Impact earlier this year in February quite a quite a interesting year, to join in this work. But, one of the things that I've seen over the last few months, particularly out on the campaign trail, but also just having conversations with our community is, this piece you know, vice president Harris has sort of really put into policy what representation means. And, it it's been so evident so quickly. You know, and I know I'm coming back to it. But, like, the caregiver's agenda.

Right? We've had all these presidents. No one has and candidates. And no one has ever run on a platform that clearly speaks to the struggles of so many middle class families. Something that is so relevant to us as South Asians, as Asians, because it is something that we all have an experience with, and Mhmm.

So did she. So did she. And she used that lived experience to create a policy agenda that's going to help millions of families. And to me, that is why representation matters. That is why building a democracy that reflects the the makeup of this country that is truly inclusive and diverse matters, because it's going to help all of our families if we add more voices, more diversity Right.

Into the system. And, it's been kind of a marvel to see, you know, firsthand how that has impacted our community. You know, we've been over the last few cycles. Our turnout rates have been going up. But even still, our direct engagement has been lacking.

Right? It's certainly been lacking from, you know, the black community, Latino community, etcetera. And the energy that I've seen at the doors of first time South Asian volunteers. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and fathers and daughters, like, multigenerational too. Right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. It it's kids bringing their parents out, parents bringing their kids out, first time volunteers, and that is honestly incredible.

It's been incredible to watch. Yeah. And I'm excited about what it means. Right? And, you know, we're obviously we're fighting to November 5th.

We wanna make sure, we win this election. We have to win this election. But I'm excited about what it means for the future because it's just November 5th is just the first stop, on the on the long journey. So No. Totally.

And I love the I love that word marvel because you're right that if you really think about it, if there's a real if there's a true bridge that exemplifies us as a community, that expanding care caregiving through Medicare and really making it a a true community based, multigenerational Yeah. Real signature of our community. There can't there can't be a better example of that, and and vice president Harris is is certainly pitching that, but but also gonna be following through on that promise, hopefully, after the next few days. At the end of this, right, everyone getting engaged, there's still time. Yep.

And there's still activity to be done. There's still a lot of work to be done. Yep. Obviously, that comes through either phone banking or donating or getting active, getting engaged, or even just thinking carefully about how those connections can be made with voters who are out there. What's what are sort of the messages that you're prioritizing right now in these last few days?

What are what are some of the things that impact and those all around us should be really focusing on? Because it's on the one hand, we can dig into the weeds and really, really get into it, and yet we're really at the finish line. So how do you prioritize in these last few days? Yeah. Look.

I think there's, we have one goal at this point. And we have 2 days left, 2 full days left before election day. We have one goal at this point. It's to mobilize every vote that we can and get them to the polls. You know, I I know it's been a tiring three and a half months.

Everyone is exhausted. I get it. But there's one more door to knock. Make. There's one more text to send.

So it for the listeners out there, please do everything possible. Everything that you can think to do over the next 3 days, do it. Because the thing that we don't want is to wake up on November 6th and feel that we didn't do everything possible to make sure Kamala Harris wins. So go to dacypresident.com. We have lots of volunteer opportunities.

We are canvassing. We are phone banking. We're text banking on WhatsApp. We're WhatsApp banking because that's where our community is. So sign up for those volunteer shifts.

Make sure you can, you know, mobilize these voters in the battleground states where we know our community can make the difference. These voters in the battleground states where we know our community can make the difference. Our community will be the margin of victory in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina. So sign up to volunteer there. And then once you've done that, there are 5 people, 10 people in your network, in your family, your friends, your neighbors.

Make sure you're reminding them to get out to vote. Make sure if you have early voting still going on your state, make sure you're reminding them to go out and early vote. Some states still have early voting through today. And if you, have a neighbor who hasn't voted yet by absentee or early voted, make sure you're reminding them to get out and vote on election day. That is incredibly important to make sure we're talking with folks in our network to mobilize into the polls as well.

Let me ask you one last thing, and that is November 6th, we're all hoping and, hopefully, it's November 6th and not too much after that. But, you know, we're all hoping to wake up and feel even more energized than we did on November 5th. That's right. And yet we know that there is a lot of possibility out there, and we don't want those possibilities to be there. And not even for the presidential election, but we know that there are gonna be some candidates down ballot, who may not actually make it to the finish line.

And even beyond this, globally, beyond this election, like you said, the work's not done even after November 5th November 6th. So is there a message of how you hope to wake up Yeah. And feel even more optimistic about what the work is ahead to continue all of this going forward? Yeah. Look.

Here's how I'm expecting to wake up. I'm expecting to wake up, with just unbridled joy because vice president Harris will be, madam president-elect, and I cannot wait for that moment. It is gonna be an incredible moment for me personally, for my family, for our country. So that's how I'm expecting to wake up. Regardless of what happens, here's what I'm also expecting.

To be absolutely and fully committed to making progress happen. And that's something we're gonna have to strive for whether she's president-elect or not president-elect. We are going to have to continue to stay involved in this process. We cannot wake up on November 6th and say, job done, or wake up on November 6th and say, I'm demoralized. Yes.

Yeah. Either way, people should take a break, take a step back, reflect, and and, try to, you know, appreciate the moment we're in, but we have to stay in this fight. We have to stay in this work to create the progress that we want. It takes all of us. She alone, as president, is not going to be able to enact the policies that she's running on.

She's going to need our support. Our community is going to have to back her up throughout her presidency, and we need to stay engaged locally as well. Building a a a foundation, at the local level creates the change at the national level as well. So it you know, for me, my expectation is to wake up with joy because we know vice president Harris is gonna win this election. But it's also to wake up recommitted to this fight, recommitted to this work because there's no other option.

And, you know, we we are all so grateful and and so proud of the commitment that that you and Impact are are really exemplifying out there and really galvanizing so many in the community and making sure that that foundation is there and and hopefully realized in the next several days. Chintan, thank you so much for joining us,and really congratulations on everything, and and so proud to to join you in this fight. Absolutely. Thank you for having me on. Really appreciate it.

Thanks, Chintan. Remember, conversation is truly the antidote to apathy. Go to I will vote.com for information and resources about voting, to daisypresident.com, iaimpact.org, southasiansforharris2024.org, and to kamalaharris.com to get engaged and learn directly about the Harris waltz campaign. Please get involved, get active, and get informed about all your local issues and candidates up and down the ballot, and most importantly, go vote. Till next time.

I'm Abhay Dandekar.