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PRESS
RELEASE
For Immediate Release ~ October 21, 1999
Contact: Lucy Keshishian
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ARMENIAN-AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC FOCUS GROUP REVEALS HIGH APPROVAL RATINGS FOR BILL BRADLEY
Highlights Al Gore's Weakness on Armenian American Issues
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Fall Church, VA: Armenian American Democrats from more than a dozen states, participating in the first of a series of Internet focus groups on the upcoming presidential primaries, revealed growing support for Bill Bradley.
The focus group, organized by the Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council (AADLC), gauged the impact of policies and outreach efforts by presidential candidates Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley on likely Armenian American voters.
"We found a consensus that Bill Bradley possesses a strong grasp of the issues important to the Armenian American community," remarked AADLC Co-Chair Khajag Sarkissian. "On domestic issues and on the foreign policy front - from his proposals on health care and campaign finance reform to his condemnation of Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide - he contrasted very favorably with the Vice President and appears to have emerged as an early favorite for Armenian American primary voters."
In an April 24th letter to the AADLC, Bradley wrote that "The Armenian Genocide is not simply about Armenians. Its significance transcends the suffering of those most immediately affected. We cannot alter the fact that 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of a brutal enemy, and we cannot question that this tragedy can go by no name but genocide." On July 22nd, he repeated his call for U.S. recognition and Turkish acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide during a nationally televised speech at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
In contrast to Bill Bradley's energetic engagement on Armenian issues, focus group participants noted that, despite tens of thousands of letters and postcards from Armenian Americans - including thousands from key primary states such as California and New Hampshire - Al Gore has neither spoken out in support of Armenian issues nor has his campaign engaged in any meaningful outreach to Armenian American voters.
"The likely voters we polled - even those who tended to support the Vice President's domestic policies - were deeply troubled that during his seven years in the White House he has refused to commemorate the Armenian Genocide or to speak out against Turkey's campaign to deny this crime against humanity," commented AADLC Executive Director Alex Sardar.
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