Michelle Mai Selesky - The Asian-American dream and the Republican Party

By Michelle Mai Selesky

Senator Rand Paul in his speech to the Republican National Convention Wednesday night highlighted the personal stories of Southeast Asian immigrants, including the Taing family from Cambodia and Vietnamese brothers Hung and Thuan Trinh, who risked their lives to sail to America on a boat from Vietnam. He told us about the risk they took to flee their war-torn countries – a risk often unimaginable to many of us born in the United States – to find freedom, peace and opportunity in the country we call home.

As a second-generation Vietnamese-American, I was proud and encouraged to see Republicans not only praising immigrants who worked hard to build their own success, but calling attention to the often politically-overlooked group of Americans who so embody the American dream and are increasingly important to the future of our country.

Some interesting facts to consider: Asians recently surpassed Hispanics to become the largest group of immigrants to the United States, with Asians approaching 40 percent of immigrants in 2009 while immigrants of Hispanic origin were just over 30 percent. To add to that, the number of Asian-Americans running for Congress this year has more than tripled since 2008.

Republicans take note: As the Asian-American population continues to grow and become more and more politically engaged we have a huge opportunity – and a huge responsibility – to include Asian-Americans into our party that promotes and defends our shared values of family, small business ownership, and freedom from big government.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/31/asian-american-dream-and-republican-party/#ixzz27skxlXDQ


Michelle Mai Selesky is the Communications Coordinator at Gingrich Communications where she orchestrates radio and media opportunities for the former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his co-authors, in addition to promoting speeches, book signings, Newt.org, and DVD and audio marketing. She also serves as the Communications Director of the Young Conservatives Coalition (YCC).

Michelle holds a Masters Degree in Political Management from the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. In 2007, she graduated with honors from UCLA, where she earned a B.A. in Political Science and served as team captain of the UCLA Women's Gymnastics team. Before joining Gingrich Communications, Michelle was a production assistant intern at The Michael Reagan Show in Los Angeles. She currently works and resides in Washington, DC.