OS ANGELES - An Asian-American political action committee endorsed a presidential nominee yesterday and vowed to deliver 80 percent of Asian-American votes to Vice President Al Gore.
The 80-20 Initiative's action in Los Angeles followed two days of spirited discussions, debates and caucusing over which presidential nominee would best serve the interests of the nation's 11 million people of Asian ancestry.
In announcing the decision at a packed news conference at the Universal City Hilton, the former chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, Chang-Lin Tien, chairman of the endorsement committee, was quick to note that neither political party has treated Asian-Americans well. But on balance, he said, Gore and the Democrats have done more ''to advance issues'' important to Asian-Americans than Governor George W. Bush of Texas and the Republicans.
Gore garnered 26 votes and Bush 7 from 33 delegates, evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
Tien called the group's decision ''historic'' and said that the Initiative's members will urge all Asian-Americans to help ''form a swing vote bloc of 80 percent to become a vital political force in the outcome of this year's and future elections.''
Tien, an engineer who helped solve the problem of keeping heat-shielding tiles from falling off US space shuttles, said he has put his reputation on the line.
The UC Berkeley professor acknowledged that some of his friends have tried to dissuade him, but he said he feels strongly about the movement as a way to empower the Asian American community.
Most of the 33 delegates and seven alternates who were at the three-day convention that began with a fund-raiser Friday attended by 700 predominantly ethnic Chinese immigrants were at the news conference, during which Republican members spoke about why they chose to go with Gore this presidential election.
It was a difficult decision, said molecular biologist Kenneth Fong, a longtime Republican Party activist and donor from Palo Alto, Calif.
''It would be a great challenge for me to cross over to vote for a Democrat,'' he said, ''but I am putting my personal interest aside for the sake of the Asian Pacific American community.''
S.B. Woo, a Democrat from Delaware, said the group is preparing a $700,000 fund-raiser for Gore.
Nearly 40 percent of the nation's Asian-Americans live in California, where they are 6 percent of the registered voters.
The group has begun radio and TV spots in Chinese language stations in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Soon it will air ads in Korean and Vietnamese broadcasts outlets as well, Woo said.
