We are just two yeas away from a major election year in 2020. The 2020 United States elections will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, with primary elections beginning March 3, 2020. Not only will the USA be voting for the next president of the United States but all 435 seats of the House of representatives will be contested along with 33 seats in the Senate. The 2016 elections saw one of the fist ever movements of Hindu significance in American politics.
The 2016 elections saw the launch of the Republican Hindu Coalition as well as the American Hindu Coalition, two groups which lobbied the Hindu vote to the White House. We saw "Hindus For Trump" and "Hindus For Hillary", two grassroots movements which for the first time gave Hindus significant media coverage as a voting block. The Hindu vote became extremely significant in battle ground states such as Florida and Virginia where Hindu temples were visited by members of the Trump family in order to garner Hindu votes there. And of course there were the fire rituals and demonstrations for both Hillary and Trump in India which made world news.
In 2016, Donald Trump became the first president ever to address an exclusively Hindu electorate in New Jersey when he personally attended the Republican Hindu Coalition's evening event in New Jersey, he did this in a state where he had little change of winning, he did this only to impress the national Hindu vote and two solidify his position as being a pro-Modi president. These were not insignificant events in American Hindu politics and they have set the momentum for the coming 2020 elections.
But what are USA Hindus doing to expand on this political capital. Some of our work has already shown fruit. Recently there was controversy over an ad with was placed by a Republican advocacy group in Texas seeking to propitiate Hindu voters, the ad features an image of Ganesh. But this is only a small flower on what should be a thickening vine of political significance for Hindus. While we have perked some ears, we have not gone far enough, we need make sure the Hindu vote is courted in all states with major Hindu populations, such as New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Virginia and Texas. We need to start showing our presence now if we want to be chased in 2020.
So what can we do to raise our profile? It is simple as advertising our relative numbers in each voting district and state, we need to show politicians just how many votes they can get from us and from where. The 2016 elections showed that Hindus are swing voters, while Hindus traditionally voted democrat before, in this election we saw the growth of a robust Hindu republican movement. Now politicians see they cannot take Hindus for granted, they need to work for our vote, support and campaign dollars.
We need to start advertisement campaigns, we need to email elected officials and make them aware of the potential for a Hindu block vote and campaign contributions in their local areas. Hindus should start taking out ads in news papers and even billboards with advertisement such as "NYC Hind Voters, .5 Million Strong". We also need to raise the profile of Hindu party voters, such as Hindu Republics, Hindu Democrats and Hindu independents.
Let's not wait for a mad dash in 2020, we need to go into this prepared. We need politicians coming to us, not the other way around. It is simple as making ourselves more visible. The Hindu vote is new, exciting, and adds to the diversity of any politicians portfolio. It also opens up strategic alliances with the growing economic powerhouse of India. These politicians need us more than we need them and it is time we start proving it to ourselves. We should all support each other regardless of our political persuasion since any Hindu political presence is better than none. Who is ready to take up the charge. who is ready to get in the boat early and prepare the ground for a 2020 election which is more momentous for Hindus than 2016. Let us not wait, let us not delay, it is time for us to realize our true potential and power, that time is today.
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