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N
E W S June
11, 2003: IL "America has given a lot to me and it is my turn to give back to give back. I will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for United States Senate on the March 16, 2004 ballot," announced Chirinjeev to an audience at the Illinois Leader on June 8. Chirinjeev chose the conservative online magazine's first anniversary celebration to make his announcement. He became the second person to declare his candidacy for the GOP nomination to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald. Chirinjeev, 38, was born in New Delhi, India. His parents immigrated to the U.S. when he was eight months old. He grew up in Illinois with his brother, his mother, who is a physician, and his father, who is an engineer. Chirinjeev earned a Medical Degree from Brown University and went on to receive an MBA and a Master's in Public Management from Stanford University. He founded and built many businesses, ranging from medical to telecommunications to space exploration. Probably his most well known company is MirCorp which made history on April 4, 2000, when it became the world's first company to privately launch and fund manned space programs. MirCorp sent the first 'citizen explorer' to space, Dennis Tito, and is building the world's first private space station. His other business ventures include Medical Oasis, Inc.; Vimani Wireless, Inc.; Koshika Telecom Ltd.; Livedoor Group, Inc.; and The X-Stream Networks, Inc. Chirinjeev and his affiliated companies have been featured in many TV shows and media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economic Times, New York Times Magazine, CNN, The Today Show, and BBC. Chirinjeev Singh's companies are valued at a combined $1 Billion. THE PLATFORM "Winston Churchill said if you are 20 and not a liberal you have no heart and he said if you are 40 and not a conservative you have no mind. So since I am close to 40 you know where I stand." Chirinjeev Singh is a conservative and a Republican. His campaign platform is pretty much in lock-step with that of the Republican Party agenda. "If you look at what is important to me - family values and growing small businesses and education - my issues are very much in line with what the Republican Party feels - absolutely. I have always been a Republican." Chirinjeev has always been interested in politics too. In his college days at Brown University, he ran for Student Body President and won. After that he put politics aside to finish his education. But now he is back. Certain political circumstances have encouraged him to run for office. First, with the retirement of Senator Fitzgerald, filling a vacant seat will be easier than running against an incumbent Senator. Second, Chirinjeev has been building a relationship with the Republican Party for the past 18 months. They have had discussions on political issues and, he says, that the Party is encouraging him to run for office. But what matters most to Chirinjeev are the issues and the platform he will run on. From his experiences as a businessman and a doctor, certain political issues have become personally important to him. The Economy: "Whether you are South Asian, Hispanic, Italian, or Greek, at the end of the day, the economy is the most important issue. We have been building businesses for more than a decade," says Chirinjeev, "so I think we can bring some unique experiences and insights as to how to create jobs in this economy." Chirinjeev's solution to grow the economy is to stimulate small businesses. Small businesses, he says, account for the majority of the new job creation in the United States. Chirinjeev also supports the Tax Job Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 that the President recently passed. He says it eliminates double taxation on dividends which allows small business to deduct more - it provides greater tax relief. On the federal level, Chirinjeev plans to bring in federal money and mandates to grow the Illinois economy which is suffering a $5 Billion deficit. Health Care: "Illinois and the U.S. needs another Senator who is a physician, like Senate Majority Leader Bill Fritz, with policy-making experience to solve one of the most important issues - affordable high-quality health care through private systems." While at Stanford University, Chirinjeev worked on the Medical Managed Care proposals which were under consideration during the Clinton administration years. From his experiences in working on health care policy, Chirinjeev says that the best way to address this issue is by finding ways for every American to afford high quality private health care. Another way, he says, is to reduce the cost of prescription
drugs for the elderly. GOP lawmakers want to reduce the out-of-pocket
expenses for pharmaceutical prescriptions, offering better coverage for
medicine for people willing to join a private health plan. President Bush
has wanted to use this as an incentive for patients to leave the very
expensive Medicare program. Congress is currently considering these strategies. Education: "I would run it more like a business - make it accountable for performances." Chirinjeev fully supports charter schools, school vouchers, and financial incentives that will make schools accountable for their funds, their achievements and their teaching strategies. He also wants to make sure that families have financial aid to help their kids go to college. Homeland Security: "I will stand with President Bush - and most importantly - our brave fighting men and women for a fully funded and supported military." First response planning is also important to him. Because he is a medical doctor, Chirinjeev says he thoroughly understands the threat of biological and chemical warfare and has a strong understanding of how to better prepare hospitals and cities for such a threat. Farming: "As Sikhs we understand the value of the farming community." With global competition opening up from Argentina and Brazil for soy beans, an important crop in Illinois, farmers are finding it harder to compete at the lower prices. New markets must be opened for Illinois farmers to expand, markets which want high quality foods produced by Illinois farmers. THE CAMPAIGN For Chirinjeev, the key to the U.S. Senate is to win the primary election to be held in March, 2004. In the general election to be held in November, 2004, he feels that there may be a large number of crossover votes from the minority voters who are traditionally registered Democrats. By his analysis, if he wins the primaries, he will have a very good shot at winning the general election. In May, Chirinjeev participated in a high powered Chicago
Conservative Conference "Winning with Ideas" where nine Republican
men spoke about their possible run for the U.S. Senate. The conference's
straw poll indicated that the attendees approved of investor-turned-school
teacher Jack Ryan, former state lawmaker-turned-RTA chair Tom McCracken,
Jr., state Senator Steve Rauschenberger and 2002 GOP primary candidate
for U.S. Senate John Cox. Although Chirinjeev ranked fourth in the poll,
he beat some of the other heavyweights who had campaigned previously and
are already household names. This was Chirinjeev's first public appearance.
His approval rating indicated to him that the election was "very
winnable." Of all the other possible candidates, only Jack Ryan has
officially announced his candidacy. Running for public office is expensive. The campaign for the U.S. Senate, which requires covering an entire state, is an expensive venture. Chirinjeev says that it is very important for him to use some of his own personal finances for the campaign, but he is also counting on financial support from the Republican Party, from the South Asian, Hispanic and African American communities, the corporate communities and others. His goal is to raise at least two to three times the amount he puts in. A good campaign will require a sharp campaign manager. Managers who have run campaigns for President Clinton and President Bush have already all called Chirinjeev to offer their services. Three campaign manager candidates are under consideration and a decision is expected soon. A good campaign will also require a good team. Chirinjeev is in the process of putting together a list of people to work on his campaign and he looking at how to assign tasks: writing policies, forming strategies, fund-raising, media and advertising, organizing rallies. The most important task, he says, is defining the issues and forming implemental strategies. The campaign will be run as a team effort on the local level and the national level. Anyone interested in working on the campaign should get involved. It is not going to be an easy race, he says, but it will be a winnable race. Voters generally just want their elected officials to improve their lives and they want to see someone who can get something done. But Chirinjeev realizes that his campaign strategy will have to include ways to educate the public about his identity. Chirinjeev often says, "I am an American, and, by the way, I wear a beard and turban." What people love about America, whether Catholic or Jewish or whatever religion, is the right to practice your own religion, he says. From his experiences, Chirinjeev has found that people want to understand the beard and turban. It makes them look deeper into my qualifications, he says. In public appearances, Chirinjeev openly acknowledges his 'unique appearance' to the crowd, putting them at ease with him immediately. Sikhs do not cut their hair or beards, he tells them, they wear a turban as a symbolic "crown of spirituality." The Sikh community, he says, can also help him by continuing
to educate the general public. Sikhs have shown a lot of support for his
run for Senate. Many have called from abroad, as far away as Japan, to
wish him well. But it will take more that well wishes to win this election.
It will requires votes. The Sikh community has historically not been very
active in politics and voting, but Chirinjeev sees this as a problem in
all communities. In general, people have become more apathetic about elections
and voting. "I hope I can energize people and increase voter turnout,
especially in our community." This is going to be a close election
and it will probably be decided on a small number of votes, says Chirinjeev.
It will be a state-wide election, it is important for Chirinjeev to get
the vote out from every eligible voter to win the race. If he wins, Chirinjeev Singh will become the first Sikh
United States Senator. related:
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Chirinjeev
Singh, a physician and an entrepreneur from Chicago, Illinois, has officially
filed his candidacy and formally announced that he is running for the
U.S. Senate in 2004.