presidential town hall video now available online

For the many of you who couldn't make it out to the historic, very first National Presidential Town Hall last month, you can now watch it all through YouTube. APIAVote has uploaded video from the event, which featured addresses from Presidential candidates Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, as well as several performances by APA artists, and was emceed by Tamlyn Tomita. From the press release:

Historic Presidential Town Hall Available to be Viewed on You Tube & APIAVote Web site

Due to popular demand, APIAVote uploaded via You Tube the Presidential Town Hall event that featured Presidential Candidates as well as several performances emceed by Tamlyn Tomita.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders made history on May 17th at the first APIAVote Presidential Town Hall, where Senator Hillary Clinton attended via live satellite feed, and Senator Barack Obama attended via teleconference. The Town Hall drew approximately 1,800 attendees, and an additional 2,800 joined the Town Hall online, according to online streaming partners ImDiversity.com and Punjabi Community Hour.

"This dialogue that unites our national leaders to our issues is just the beginning," APIAVote interim executive director Vida Benavides said. "We would like to continue the conversation with our national candidates in the years and elections to come, not only when candidates campaign, but more importantly, when they have been elected to office."

"The questions we had for Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain reflect the diverse needs and disparities among our communities, and we certainly hope that they realize the growing strength and ability of how we vote accordingly based on these issues," APIAVote co-chair Noe Kalipi stated. "We also anticipate that they increase their efforts to reach out to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Our votes are 3 million strong and growing steadily, and we are a permanent and increasingly influential fixture in the American electoral process."

The Democratic Presidential Candidates addressed policy questions posed to them by local and national members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including Doua Thor (Southeast Asian Resource Action Center), Napali Woode (Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement), MaryAnne Foo (Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Alliance). Senator McCain did not participate due to scheduling conflicts, and was represented by California State Representative Van Tran.

Photos and videos from the Town Hall are available at APIAVote.org and youtube.com/user/APIAVoteNational. The online clips feature all of the Town Hall content, including the presidential candidate portion and performances by Beau Sia, Camille Velasco and Kaba Modern Legacy. Check it out, and learn more about APIAVote here.