Travel - International Indian

DiasporaCan One Indian-AmericanStop Obama in 2012?Dinesh D’souza is determined to stop President Obamafrom a second term in office.By: Frank RajAmerica is the kind of place whereyou can succeed if you can exploitsomething farcical or famousand get people to follow you. In1975, Gary Dahl, an advertisingexecutive in California came up with the ideafor the perfect “pet”: a rock – patthar. Such apet would not need to be fed, walked, bathed,groomed and would not die, become sick, orbe disobedient. Ordinary gray stones weremarketed like live pets, in custom cardboardboxes, complete with straw and breathingholes for the “animal.”The fad lasted about sixmonths, with Dahl selling 1.5 million Pet Rocksand becoming a millionaire.In that sense, America hasn’t changed, boldand bright ideas still have plenty of takers – andIndian immigrants have proved they know howto take advantage of the system in many fields.There are others like South CarolinaGovernor Nikki Haley and Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindal in the fray, but Dinesh D’souzais one Indian American who has almostsinglehandedly taken on the President of theUnited States, determined to end up famousor foolish after the U.S presidential elections inNovember 2012.If his audacious effort to influence Americanvoters succeeds in foiling President Obama’sattempt for a second term, D’souza willprobably become a very important man inthe Americanpoliticalfirmament.On the otherhand, he couldremain assome critics arecalling him, a“self-appointedNostradamus.”D’souza, 51,whose politicalloyaltieslie on theextreme right,is an IndianDinesh D’Souzaimmigrant fromMumbai whocame to the USA as a foreign student in 1978.He is an Indian American conservative politicalcommentator, public intellectual and authorand is currently President of The King’s Collegein New York City. Earlier he was Robert andKaren Rishwain Research Fellow at the HooverInstitution at Stanford University. D’Souzais a prominent voice in American politicsand has been affiliated with a number of topconservative organizations and publications,including the American Enterprise Institute,22The International Indian