Some Vietnamese-Americans arranged a rally for Barack Obama to show support for this young candidate on Saturday, October 18, 2008.

Truc Nguyen, a Vietnamese father of three students of Bethel, said that he likes and agrees with the rally because he is a Democrat and wants to vote for Obama. He feels that Obama is the “better” candidate to choose from than McCain.

The Democrats held the rally to point out that not all the Vietnamese-Americans desired to vote for John McCain for his service in their homeland, Vietnam. They wanted to give Obama a chance, since they thought that some of their people didn’t know him well.

Thinh Ta, a Vietnamese mother from Bethel, says that she opposes the Obama supporters and would rather vote for McCain because he wants to make abortion illegal.

One of the Democrats from the rally named The Ngoc Nguyen thought that his fellow community members should just stop and listen to what Obama has to say.

Jennifer Loi, a Vietnamese mother of four students who attend Bethel, said that she wants to vote for McCain because she thinks that McCain would be a “great” President in the future, if he wins.

“I want to vote for McCain because he doesn’t support abortion as opposed to Obama,” says L. Yam, father of two students from Bethel.

“I want to vote for McCain because I can’t support the Democrat, and I don’t have money for that; no businessmen want them,” says C. Phan, a father of four kids from Bethel. “The Democrat says, ‘Oh, I’m going to give you two dollars added to your check!’ Everyone says, ‘Yeah!’ But eventually, they’ll tax you the money back.”

“We want to vote for McCain because he was shot down and kept prisoner for five and a half years during his service in the Vietnam War, where he was tortured,” says Linh Nguyen and Thuy Pham, parents of three students. “He has a lot of war experience and can make the right decisions for the Iraq War and any other war that might happen in the future.”

Kristine Nguyen, mother of four kids who attend Bethel, says, “McCain, because I want a new direction, and I know McCain has a plan. First, rebuilding our savings. Second, growing our investment.”

The rally’s purpose was to point out that Obama should have a chance to win, but from Bethel’s parents’ point of view, they want McCain to have a chance to win also.