Gansler speaks at MD APAs for Obama meeting

Doug Ganlser and Susan Lee at an Asian Pacific Americans for Obama meeting in Bethesda Politcker Photo

BETHESDA – Doug Gansler, state attorney general and Maryland co-chair for the Barack Obama campaign, spoke at Wednesday’s Maryland Asian Pacific Americans for Obama meeting. Gansler was joined by Del. Susan Lee (D-Bethesda), who co-chairs the MAPAs for Obama and serves as deputy majority whip in the state House. Gansler has been the state co-chair of the Obama campaign for over a year.

“The Asian-American community, in my view, has two ways of going,” Gansler told a crowd of about 35, made up mostly of Asian-American youth and their parents. “One, sort of staying out of politics and government or two, getting involved and making the change from the inside in terms of politics.”

“This is an opportunity, this is a campaign, where I think you can really make big differences for the Asian American community in Maryland and the United States as a whole,” he added. “Never do we have such an inspirational candidate as we do with Barack Obama.”

In an interview with PolitickerMD.com, Gansler said his primary focus was “to win here and win here big.” His secondary focus, he said, was to “help our two border states - Pennsylvania and Virginia.”

“Now we’re really focused on our efforts in Pennsylvania, more for the northern part of the state and Virginia more for this area. To go in and try and make sure we hold Pennsylvania because that’s always been a tenuous Democratic foothold, but also to win Virginia for the first time since 1964,” Gansler said. “And I really believe that we will do that.”

Although Gansler said he wasn’t interested in serving in a potential Obama administration, he did say he was actively campaigning for Obama around the state through fundraising efforts, working on the convention, and “to try and do things like this.”

Doug Gansler was elected Maryland’s attorney general in 2006.