Asian-American Super PAC Launches To Hit Back Against Pete Hoekstra's China Ad

WASHINGTON -- A new super PAC has formed to support allies of the Asian Pacific Islander community after GOP Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra aired a controversial ad that was widely criticized for furthering negative stereotypes of Asian Americans.

“In an age where virtually all Americans have moved forward on race relations, it seems Congressman Hoekstra has taken a giant step back. We are here to say we are not going to put up with it. We are here to tell him we are outraged and demand an official apology," said Jesse Tangkhpanya, the national political director for the American Values super PAC.

The controversial Hoekstra ad was aimed at Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the incumbent who Hoekstra is trying to unseat in 2012. It was broadcast in Michigan on Super Bowl Sunday and removed from circulation later that week, and showed a woman bicycling through a landscape of rice paddies dressed in khakis and a yellow shirt.

As she approached the camera, an Asian-American actress thanked "Michigan Senator Debbie Spend-it-Now" for supposedly spending too much money, in turn helping the Chinese economy.

"Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good," she said in broken and stereotypically accented English.

American Values' first effort, Tangkhpanya said, is aimed at raising enough money to put up an ad responding to Hoekstra.

"I fear that the way the business of politics is done today, that we are back to the days of Lee Atwater and the racially-insensitive tactics that gave us Willie Horton. This is clearly Hoekstra's Willie Horton moment," said Lewis Myers, executive director of American Values.

The American Values spot plays part of the "Debbie Spend-It-Now" ad and highlights Hoekstra's defense of it. "Congressman Pete Hoekstra, shame on you," says the narrator.

Tangkhpanya said the super PAC was originally supposed to launch next month, but they decided to move up the date in response to the Hoekstra controversy. Michigan won't be the only state American Values is involved in. The super PAC already has a commitment from a donor to contribute "at least six figures" for races in California, Tangkhpanya said. He declined to name the donor, although he said American Values will be disclosing all of its donors eventually.

The pledged funds are earmarked for two specific candidates in California, including Democrat Jay Chen, who is trying to unseat Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.). Tangkhpanya would not name the other candidate. Myers was recently a consultant for Chen, but he has since resigned.

"We plan on expanding the map to targeted Red to Blue races and races we deem competitive," he added. "We will specialize on API candidates and allies and set the record straight on those we feel are not on the community's side."

Lisa Chan, the Asian-American actress in the Hoekstra ad, recently apologized for her involvement.

"I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities," Chan wrote on her Facebook page. "As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions."

Both Chan and Hoekstra received widespread criticism for the ad. National GOP consultant Mike Murphy called it "really, really dumb."

Stabenow, on the other hand, raised a significant amount of money as a result of backlash to the spot.

"We knew we were taking an aggressive approach on this," Hoekstra said earlier this month in response to the criticism. "But this is a time where the people in Michigan and across the country are fed up with the spending, and we wanted to capture that frustration that they had with Washington, D.C. This ad ... hits Debbie smack dab between the eyes on the issue where she is vulnerable with the voters of Michigan, and that is spending."

Hoekstra's campaign did not return a request for comment.

Comments

[luapmi2]

03:16 AM on 02/21/2012

So, was Willie Horton really just a nice guy who worked at a florist shop?

[twarns]

11:13 AM on 02/20/2012

I have not found a single non Asian Michigan Republican that has spoken out against this ad. In fact the Michigan GOP Chairman said it was not racist.

The silence of our Michigan Leaders including Rick Synder the governor of ALL Michiganders is quite load. We can only assume with thier silence that they agree with Pete Hoekstra attitudes towards asians. That it is ok for a Republican in the state of Michigan to use such language and imagery.

[HaeJee]

09:49 AM on 02/20/2012

Just like what Republicans did about Russia years ago, they are trying to do it again with China. Instill fear into voters to gain votes. GOP are great at feeding into people’s hidden prejudices.

[Nostrodamus]

10:19 PM on 02/19/2012

All they got to do to hit back against Pete Hoekstra is keep play that awful ad that he put out himself!

[Alan626]

06:49 PM on 02/19/2012

This is why race-baiting is a bad idea. It always results in a backlash, and since most Americans aren't bigots, the backlash always gets more support than the race-baiting received.
Note to Republicans: Please don't stop disgusting the majority of Americans. It's a sure road to victory in November. Trust me on this. I would never encourage you to continue a behavior that was going to kill your chances. Really. Keep attacking the underdogs. Nobody ever roots for the underdog. You're on safe ground there. Really.

[paultec1]

12:55 PM on 02/19/2012

I love what China has done for it's people.What have our 2 partys done for the American people?
When you can answer that honestly and know what your talking about,then we can hope for a better future for OUR Country.

[jwadvocate83]

04:27 PM on 02/19/2012

Well, slow down. China ain't perfect either.

[Alan626]

06:44 PM on 02/19/2012

"I love what China has done for its people."
Yes. Their workers are killing themselves because they were given our jobs at the wages and under the conditions corporations here would love to be able to impose on American workers.
When you can respond to that honestly and know what you are talking about, then we can hope for a better future for OUR country.

[Andrew Fung Yip]

03:09 AM on 02/26/2012

My family came from China to the United States to seek a better future. We definitely love the US more. That's why this ad pisses me off because once again, Chinese, even Chinese Americans will always be seen as foreigners that can't speak English.

[falconsso]

11:14 AM on 02/19/2012

" We are here to tell him we are outraged and demand " , that he fill out a "He hurt our feelings" report. Get over it, and move on !

[Leigh49]

11:10 AM on 02/19/2012

This is one reason you should be very careful in using race or religion in a political ad. It will come back to bite you in a big way.

[Damn Strange]

10:45 PM on 02/18/2012

She's a pretty girl. Maybe she can parlay this into a spot on Fox News.

[luapmi2]

03:18 AM on 02/21/2012

She works as a consultant for a massage spa.

[Rooster Coburn]

04:24 PM on 02/18/2012

How about an Asian-American super pac called the Syngman Rhee Super Pac to oppose totalitarianism and collectivism at home and abroad?

[Chigirl60]

12:46 PM on 02/18/2012

An ad like this goes past many approving eyes before making it to TV. Think about what that says about Hoekstra and his team. They are that unaware of the world around them.

[paultec1]

12:50 PM on 02/19/2012

THEY ARE EVIL AND QUITE AWARE THEY ARE PANDERING TO THE EVIL IN OTHERS.

[jwadvocate83]

04:28 PM on 02/19/2012

Agreed. They're either sorely lacking in any political intelligence --- or they're well aware that they're pandering to the lowest nativist/populist instinct.

[luapmi2]

03:20 AM on 02/21/2012

It says that truth is more important than political correctness. Something our country could use a whole lot more of.....

[den1953]

12:33 PM on 02/18/2012

To my good friends in MI ask yourself where was Pete Hofstra when GW Bush and the Republican Party spent tax payer money like drunken sailors during those Bush years when he thought he could give out tax cuts to the wealthy, bribe seniors into voting for him for a offer of the costliest Medicare drug program the government ever tried? All that voting for those Bush policies and both wars on the backs of your children, ask Pete Hofstra if he voted yes to those policies and base your opinion on who is the big spender. Any questions about that could be answered by Dick Cheney when he said deficits don't matter to the Republicans..........

[falconsso]

11:16 AM on 02/19/2012

The Blame Bush train stopped running over three years ago. Remove your rear view mirror, and keep driving.

[den1953]

02:00 PM on 02/19/2012

Funny thing every morning you wake up your are still living under GW Bush's policies and most conservatives suffer from his amnesia tricky thing the GOP and their spin machine!

[jwadvocate83]

04:31 PM on 02/19/2012

The point is --- at best, not many of our economic policies have changed since Bush, *while Hoekstra was in office*. So for him to lay it on the feet of Obama without acknowledging that his party's own policies, in part, landed us here as well is hypocritical. It's Obama's watch, now. But that doesn't absolve everyone else of their part in the problem.

[HaeJee]

09:42 AM on 02/20/2012

The Bush days are still very fresh in my mind, in addition to the 2008 election and thereafter. The Republicans have turned from a fiscal conservative group to a tent revival for the prejudice and holy rollers. They use to be considered the elite group, but know they promote racially insentitive tactics and know they are pandering to the tea party group.

[den1953]

11:05 AM on 02/20/2012

Very true and that my friend is what will tear apart the republican party!

[Craig2]

11:20 AM on 02/18/2012

Good morning, I saw the ad. I heard the truth. Discount the political the rest is true. That dosen't make me hate Asians or anyone for that matter. The discussion should be how to free many Asians from the oppression they suffer before our rights are subverted to their level. That's the real question in a reallity based World.

[Leigh49]

11:14 AM on 02/19/2012

We aren't helping free Asians by forcing them to work for slave wages in horrid conditions making American products. Computers, phones, etc. are all made in Asia.

[Craig2]

11:36 AM on 02/19/2012

Good morning Leigh49, Granted. Look to the "capitalist" who invested in China. What standards of worker rights did they project into China? Steve Jobs? Liberator or enslaver? All of our Corporate Oligarchs are there. There is a plan afoot. In 1980 a non-Union experienced plywood worker in Southern Oregon made $13.50 per hour. In 2012 a Union auto worker in Detroit makes $14.50 per hour. Slaves? Look into the actual slave labor factories in North Korea with rail lines running south.

[reeltime07]

12:00 PM on 02/20/2012

Good old Hookey voted FOR the EM law( removes citizen ELECTED OFFICE HOLDERS and replaces them with Gov. APPOINTED MANAGERS answerable ONLY to the Gov.) This man will take away the RIGHTS of all Americans at the national level without remorse. He is a DIRECT threat( his voting record and bills he sponsered are proof) to our freedoms. To give him a national office, will bring the oppression he gave Mich. to the WHOLE COUNTRY!!!

[Madhyamika]

11:17 AM on 02/18/2012

Pity the poor young college grads who can't find any job in this deep recession. They would grab at any job offer for a paycheck. Lisa Chan has learned a valuable lesson. She can offer to appear on the American Values super PAC ad, pro bono, as a gesture.

[falconsso]

11:17 AM on 02/19/2012

All the jobs were taken by illegal aliens and paid minimum wage.

[HaeJee]

09:47 AM on 02/20/2012

All? You sound like a true GOP. haha

[jdevans]

11:02 AM on 02/18/2012

Think Hoekstra's learned anything from all the money being raised from backlash to his ad?