11th-Hour Bush Visit to Little Saigon Today Sends Hosts Hustling

Vietnamese Americans were scrambling Tuesday to get out word that Texas Gov. George W. Bush would visit Little Saigon today on his presidential campaign swing through California.

Confirmation of Bush’s planned afternoon stop at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster came late Monday, leaving supporters and activists little time and plenty of worries as they tried to ensure a warm welcome.

“People who know about Bush’s visit are excited,” said Nhi Ho, an activist who was helping coordinate the event. “But . . . I’m afraid we might not have a big crowd to welcome him.”

To help alert the community, volunteers were hammering signs and making banners at the newly opened GOP headquarters in the heart of the nation’s largest Vietnamese population, one that has consistently supported Republicans for president in recent years.

“We’re so busy,” said a breathless Mong Lan Nguyen, chairwoman of the Vietnamese American Republicans of Orange County, which set up shop last week in the Asian Village Mall. “It’s going to be an all-nighter.”

By late Tuesday, red, white and blue banners reading “George W. Bush for President” were hung along railings at the shopping center in the 9200 block of Bolsa Avenue, with more signs to be plastered throughout Little Saigon by dawn, Nguyen said.

Bush’s visit to Little Saigon was in keeping with his party’s tradition of courting Orange County’s Vietnamese community.

“Bush has made it a point to speak to ethnic communities where Republicans have not felt comfortable reaching out in the past,” said Lindsey Kozberg, the party’s California press coordinator. “He’s very committed to winning in California and he’ll go where it’s needed to win.”

But Vietnamese American voters historically have overwhelmingly supported GOP candidates. They are the only Asian group with a plurality of registered Republican voters, according to a 1998 exit polling survey conducted by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles.

Former President George Bush, then-Vice President Dan Quayle, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Kansas Sen. Bob Dole all have walked the streets of Westminster. McCain garnered nearly half of Southern California’s Vietnamese vote in the primaries this year, while Bush won about 23%.

Bush aides said Tuesday that the governor plans to address education, Social Security, national security and prescription drugs, issues he sees as critical in California.

“Little Saigon is friendly ground for him, yes,” campaign spokesman Tucker Eskew said. “But education has not always been a topic in national Republican campaigns, and we hope to get the message across that it’s a serious issue to Gov. Bush. As president, education will be his No. 1 priority.”

Though trailing Democratic rival Al Gore in recent California polls, Bush insists he has not given up on the state and plans to visit it often in the weeks before the election. Today will mark the governor’s 15th campaign stop in California and his eighth since the state’s March 7 primary.

He was scheduled to appear later today at a California GOP reception at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine.

Santa Ana Unified School District officials said Bush would speak to students at Santa Ana High School at about 9 a.m. Thursday, but the governor’s campaign aides said his schedule was not confirmed.

The Westminster stop was placed on Bush’s itinerary after he was lobbied by many grass-roots organizations and individuals in Orange County, including Little Saigon developer Frank Jao, Kozberg said.

Bush supporter Ho said he hopes the presidential candidate will talk about issues concerning Vietnamese Americans, such as human rights and democracy for Vietnam.

“We want to hear him talk about the policies toward Vietnam and if he’s going to open up his administration to the Asian communities,” said Ho, who worked as an aide to former California Gov. Pete Wilson and former Garden Grove Rep. Robert K. Dornan.

“We hope he can make some changes because we know he’s more open to minority groups.”

Correspondent Alex Katz contributed to this report.