{"id":9057,"date":"2019-08-01T17:18:02","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T22:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/presidential-candidate-makes-first-major-play-for-indian-vote\/"},"modified":"2019-08-01T17:18:02","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T22:18:02","slug":"presidential-candidate-makes-first-major-play-for-indian-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/presidential-candidate-makes-first-major-play-for-indian-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidential candidate makes first major play for Indian vote"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>

The 2020 Democratic presidential field is a crowded one and some candidates are seeking to distinguish themselves by making a play for the Native vote.<\/p>\n

Though American Indians and Alaska Natives only represent about 1.3 percent of the nation\u2019s population<\/a>, their votes can sway outcomes in several battleground states. With more than two dozen hoping to lead the United States, presidential hopefuls can\u2019t afford to ignore the voices of the first Americans, advocates say.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo candidate should take the Native American vote for granted,\u201d said O.J. Semans<\/a>, a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. \u201cBut when candidates demonstrate they understand the issues and will work for the betterment of our people and our communities, they can earn our votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In hopes of demonstrating that point, Semans and Four Directions<\/a>, an organization he co-directs, are making history with the Frank LaMere Presidential Candidate Forum. To be held next month in Iowa, one of the most important campaigning states, the event is the first of the 2020 cycle to focus on Indian issues and it\u2019s the first of its kind in more than a decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cCandidates want to say yes to this event, because they understand voter turnout is increasing dramatically in Indian Country,\u201d said Semans of the forum, named in honor of the late Frank LaMere<\/a>, a prominent activist who passed away last month after dedicating his life to advancing Native causes.<\/p>\n

Five of the major party candidates so far have agreed to take part in the August 19-20 event, organizers announced on Thursday. The Democrats who already said \u201cyes\u201d are: Bernie Sanders<\/a>, the U.S. Senator from Vermont, author Marianne Williamson<\/a>; Steve Bullock<\/a>, the governor of Montana, Juli\u00e1n Castro<\/a>, a former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and John Delaney<\/a>, a former U.S. Congressman from Maryland.<\/p>\n

Additionally, independent candidate Mark Charles<\/a>, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, will be attending the forum. It\u2019s being held at the Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City, a community with a thriving urban Indian population and one near the homelands and reservations of several tribes.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the event, Castro announced on Thursday that he will be returning to Iowa to campaign. His weekend includes a session with citizens of the Meskwaki Nation<\/a> in Tama, about 220 miles east of Sioux City.<\/p>\n

At the event on the Meskwaki Settlement<\/a> on Friday, Castro will formally unveil his \u201cPeople First Indigenous Communities Policy\u201d<\/a>. His platform stresses sovereignty, treaties, justice for Native women and tribal-federal partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can never undo the injustice of our country\u2019s treatment of Indigenous people. But as a nation, we can live up to our treaty obligations, strengthen tribal sovereignty, and be a serious partner in improving and strengthening our shared destiny,\u201d Castro, who led the Department of Housing and Urban Development<\/a> during the Barack Obama administration, said of his platform in a post on Medium<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

The 2020 Democratic presidential field is a crowded one and some candidates are seeking to distinguish themselves by making a play for the Native vote. Though American Indians and Alaska Natives only represent about 1.3 percent of the nation\u2019s population, their votes can sway outcomes in several battleground states. With <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> August 1, 2019<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[10105,6658,3222],"class_list":["post-9057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-archive","tag-more-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9057\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}