Van Tran for Congress

Van Tran Responds To Obama’s State Of The Union Address

Assemblyman Van Tran Responds to the State of the Union Address
Van Tran applauds President Obama’s efforts to focus on jobs and the economy.

Santa Ana — Tonight, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address. The message was clear, and the administration has renewed its promise to focusing on our economy and creating jobs. At a time when 58 percent of the American people feel the nation is headed in the wrong direction, President Obama is attempting to bring the focus back on moving in the right direction, and that is the direction of job creation and fixing the budget.

“I appreciate that President Obama is changing his tone and focusing his efforts on bringing his policies to be more what America wants and needs. However, I feel there was not nearly enough of an emphasis on creating jobs,” says Assemblyman Van Tran, candidate for the 47th congressional district. “What we need is an economic plan that focuses on getting people back to work, not government overspending. My first priorities are creating jobs, cutting out wasteful government spending to fix the budget, and to get rid of the red tape our government creates for business.”

President Obama also spoke at length about the need for healthcare reform. He renewed his promise to the American people for transparency of governmental practices, something that he admitted was missing in current negotiations.

“Contrary to popular belief, we support healthcare reform, but the current bill is too big, and attempts to do too many things at once,” says Assemblyman Tran. “What we need to focus on is how to reign in these ideas, and pass a responsible bill that provides quality healthcare coverage without breaking the bank.”

Editorial: Resounding victory for Republicans

Orange County Republicans and the party’s politicians representing Newport-Mesa statewide and nationally must like their chances going into the 2010 electoral season, now that the GOP has pulled off a stunning victory in Massachusetts.

Scott Brown’s Tuesday win, deep inside Democratic territory, snapped up a U.S. Senate seat for the Republicans, which for decades had belonged to the late Ted Kennedy. This followed two big GOP victories in New Jersey and Virginia. The Massachusetts upset also weakened the Democrats’ grip on both houses of Congress, stripping them of a filibuster- proof supermajority in the Senate. It almost certainly has doomed their chances of passing the bitterly fought health-care-reform bill.

“The Massachusetts election indicates a widespread dissatisfaction with the goals and methodology of the current Democrat majority and the president,” U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. “If that’s true in liberal Massachusetts, it’s likely true elsewhere, including California.”

What happened last week can only buoy a quartet of area Republicans — U.S. Rep. John Campbell, State Sen. Tom Harman and State Assemblymen Van Tran and Chuck DeVore — who this year will be defending their seats or vacating them to challenge incumbents in higher offices.

“Since the 2008 elections, the thought du jour in California has been the Democrats will sweep the governor’s office, the U.S. Senate and keep all their legislative seats. This election shows that Americans are watching,” said Harman, who’s running for election as state attorney general.

Echoed Tran: “What we saw in Massachusetts this week is a demand for change that is deep and palpable throughout America — especially right here in Orange County.”

Campbell likened Massachusetts to a tide lifting up the fleet of Republicans boats.

“It wasn’t just a big wave. It was a tsunami,” he said.

While the congressman represents Orange County, one of the nation’s Republican strongholds, he says he’s not taking lightly the challenge being mounted by Democrat Beth Krom, the former Irvine mayor and councilwoman.

Krom acknowledges that the odds of unseating Campbell are against her. Still, she likes her chances, despite her party’s blowing it in Massachusetts.

“I don’t see it as a setback. What I do think is that the voters of Massachusetts seem to be indicating that they are more interested in voting for a person rather than a party,” Krom said, alluding to her prospects for picking up swing votes and winning over some of those rock-ribbed Republicans.

And, who knows? Krom might even pull off a Scott Brown-like upset in Orange County. Either way, we wish her, Campbell and all of the other candidates best of luck for their 2010 campaigns.

Massachusetts: The First Nail in Loretta Sanchez’s Coffin

Tran applauds Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts special election
For Immediate Release
January 19, 2010
Contact: Rory Luepton
(760) 500-9930

Santa Ana – Tonight, the citizens of Massachusetts turned a new page on the historic Senate seat once occupied by the late Ted Kennedy. Republican Scott Brown was elected to the United States Senate by defeating Democrat Martha Coakley and signaling a long anticipated change in direction in Congress.

Brown’s victory sets the tone for the 2010 election cycle. The change our Democratic representatives have offered is not the change Americans expected in 2008. Incumbents like Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) will be scrutinized and held accountable for all their votes.

“Senator Scott Brown’s victory is a victory for every hard working American,” says Van Tran, Republican candidate for the 47^th congressional district. “This has tremendous opportunity to change the tone and tenor of races across the country including ours. No one can think that Loretta is more likely to win than a Democrat in Massachusetts. Brown’s victory is the first nail driven in Loretta Sanchez’s coffin.”

“What we saw in Massachusetts tonight is a demand for change that is deep and palpable throughout America and especially right here in Orange County. That’s what my campaign is all about - The current status quo must go (Sanchez).”

The Washington Post: GOP Casting Wide Net In Effort To Recruit 2010 Hopefuls

By Paul Kane and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 8, 2010

…For a beleaguered Republican Party, Fincher’s candidacy is part of a recruiting renaissance following back-to-back elections during which the national political environment was tilted badly against it.

In races for the House and Senate, Republicans have found credible candidates that range from intriguing first-timers such as Fincher to ambitious politicians such as California state Assemblyman Van Tran, who took a pass on previous entreaties to challenge Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) but is ready now.

… the double-digit unemployment rate nationally, a spate of high-profile Democratic retirements and sagging approval ratings for the Obama administration have Republicans dreaming big about the 2010 midterms, leading to talk of a wave election cycle that would seriously dent the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and threaten their hold on the House.

For the complete article CLICK HERE.

NPR: GOP Hopes ‘Fresh Face’ Will Unseat Calif. Incumbent

National Public Radio (NPR) recently ran a great profile of our race for Congress.

CLICK HERE to listen the podcast.

GOP Hopes ‘Fresh Face’ Will Unseat Calif. Incumbent
By Ina Jaffe
January 1, 2010

Republicans are hoping to make gains in the 2010 elections, and they’re looking for new voices to carry their message to voters.

One of their top prospects is California Assemblyman Van Tran. He’s the first Vietnamese-American to serve in a state legislature. Now, he has been recruited by the party to run for Congress in a Southern California district with the highest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans in the nation.

Tran has represented the 68th Assembly District for nearly six years. Before that, he was a member of a local city council. And Tran’s personal story is very much like those of his constituents. His family left Vietnam on an American military transport plane a week before the fall of Saigon, when he was 10 years old.

“It was a trip that defined … my life,” Tran says. “You’ve left a lot of memories back in the old country, and still you remember the legacy of the war, and you live through it, through your parents and through your elders as well.”

That experience, says Tran, has given him a unique perspective that has guided his political life.

“It goes back to the virtues that make this country great,” he says. “It’s all about freedom, it’s all about opportunity, it’s all about hard work and fairness and the generosity of the American people as well.”

Tran describes himself as a conservative on social issues, as well as fiscal ones. But U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is in charge of recruiting candidates for the National Republican Congressional Committee, says he was looking for more than a conservative ideologue.

“I’m looking for fresh faces, people who understand their district, listen to their district, could actually solve problems,” McCarthy says. “When you look at this district and the makeup of it, [Tran] is one of the first names who come to mind.”