Waltham, Mass. (A.W.)–With less than a week to go until the special Democratic primary on Tues., Oct. 15, Peter Koutoujian’s campaign remains in full swing. The recent endorsement of Koutoujian by Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo has given the Koutoujian campaign an added boost in these critical last days. DeLeo represents Winthrop and Revere, but his influence extends throughout the state. In a Boston.com story, DeLeo was quoted as having said, “I know how important it is for a district to have a strong, dedicated, and intelligent representative always willing to do what is in the best interest of his or her constituents… Peter will be that person for the Fifth Congressional District.”
Long before high-profile endorsements, there was a humming engine quietly powering the Koutoujian campaign. The Armenian-American community within and even beyond the Fifth Congressional District has been a vital force behind his election efforts. It was clear from the outset of the campaign that the Armenian vote was going to be crucial to the election efforts, so much so that the community was considered as a “25th town” in the 24-town Fifth Congressional District. Dr. Noubar Afeyan, a local entrepreneur who has been involved in the campaign from its inception, explained, “My friends and I brought up this notion of considering the Armenians as a [town], as opposed to a little here, a little there… To their credit, they took that to heart and called it a ‘25th town,’ which Peter talks a lot about these days.”
Afeyan shares a characteristic of many Armenians who have been galvanized by the Koutoujian campaign: He is not usually politically active. “I am not at all politically involved, I’ve been involved in no other campaign, [but] I know Peter quite well and I reached out very early on when he first said he would be running, and felt that the Armenian community, if activated, much more so than the usual (which is very little) could be a significant factor.” Once involved, however, there are no half measures. Many volunteers have recruited their entire families into the campaign efforts, and Afeyan is no exception, as his 15-year-old son, Alex, has been a very active volunteer in canvassing and phone banking over the past two months as part of the Campaign Fellows program.
The challenge for these volunteers then becomes to engage their friends and neighbors, who are often similarly politically reticent. Raffi Festekjian, a local businessman who has contributed to and fundraised for the campaign, noted that innate Armenian skepticism has posed a challenge. “We always complain as a group that we don’t have enough representation, but when the right representation comes…we tend to be skeptical, that’s kind of our Armenian thing.”
Afeyan explains, “I would say that there are pockets of the Armenian community that are self-motivated and got involved early on, but it’s a very small number. I think we simply don’t have the tradition, practice, predisposition to volunteer in this way—time, money, otherwise, let alone get our friends involved. I think that one of my sincere hopes is that Peter not only wins, but that this campaign would have been the beginning of a more organized and active Armenian community, across political lines, across aspects of the community, such that we can have a stronger voice and one that could shape elections.”
This hope was echoed by Dr. Aram Kaligian, another active volunteer member of the Koutoujian campaign. Describing his volunteer efforts, Kaligian explained, “I’ve been trying to get people in the community behind Peter—I mean, clearly people in the community will vote for him, but trying to get people to actively come out and work for him and to actively drum up support…It’s a historic opportunity, an Armenian American in Congress. We’ve only got two so far, and this is the first time on the East Coast, and it’s a big opportunity that we can’t just let go by…if we don’t get some Armenians in Congress, we’re never going to get Armenian issues off the ground.” These efforts to get out the vote have included e-mail publicity, phone banking organized by the ANCA Eastern Region, and speaking at Camp Haiastan and Café Anoush. Like the Afeyans, Kaligian’s family has also become involved. Dr. Kaligian’s brother, Dikran, and their parents, Barkev and Seta, have all volunteered.
Many volunteers echo the sense of opportunity expressed by Afeyan and Kaligian. JJ Hajjar, another supporter, elaborated on the potential he sees. “For me…the candidacy of one of [the] prominent and visible member[s] of our community is a serious foray of the Armenian Americans from Massachusetts onto the U.S .political landscape. Whether he wins the nomination or not, I am sure this will entice others to follow in his footstep[s]. … This is especially true of our new generation who constitute the bulk of his volunteer base. I am optimistic and confident that we will make history and be elected our first Armenian American from Massachusetts to be the Democratic nominee and eventually the U.S. Congressman from the Fifth District. This will be a voice from our community that will champion our needs and concerns nationally especially as we prepare to commemorate the genocide centennial in a couple of years.”
Achieving recognition of the genocide was a frequently expressed hope among volunteers. Kaligian explained, “My point of view is that if we don’t get Armenians into Congress, we’re always going to be asking the average Congressman to do whatever, and we have a lot of people who support our issues, but when push comes to shove, we just can’t get it passed because the Turks have just too much money to buy off the last votes… And there are a lot of other things Armenians in Congress can do other than put the genocide resolution forward.”
Kaligian stressed the implications that an Armenian in the U.S. Congress could have for Armenia itself, as well as for Armenian Americans. “We need to start building ties. Peter could start taking people with him to Armenia on Congressional visits… Once people start to see what’s being done over there and what kinds of people we’ve got over there, then we start to build trade alliances and start to really build things up… There’s also the whole anti-corruption thing. Nobody’s holding the government accountable, we can’t as diasporans, they don’t listen to the diaspora, there’s no real reason that they have to. But if they know that there are Armenian Congressmen and that’s part of the equation when it comes to wanting to get support from America, then maybe they’ll have to start cleaning up their act, and cleaning up the corruption and the whole oligarchy.”
For many of those involved in the Koutoujian campaign, there is a personal element. Many have known him for many years, and see him as a natural leader. Hajjar cited Koutoujian’s efforts in promoting issues of importance to the Armenian community, as well as his involvement in the creation of the Armenian Heritage Park in the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Afeyan is a friend, and Kaligian formed his impressions of the candidate decades in advance. “I’ve…known him since we were young, we had some Armenian neighbors in Lexington, and he was their cousin, so I didn’t know him well but we would see him once or twice a year at Easter or Christmas. And when you know somebody young, you know what they’re like. He was an honest, straight-up kid back then, and when you know somebody that long, especially a politician…he’s a good politician.”
Aside from personal ties, respect for Koutoujian’s political prowess and experience was a common refrain. Hajjar described Koutoujian’s positions on many issues as being very well-aligned with prevailing sentiments in the Fifth District. Kaligian noted Koutoujian’s negotiating experience, saying, “We need people who are going to be strong negotiators, who are going to be able to negotiate, but aren’t just going to cave in every time a Tea Party person starts to hold his breath until he turns blue. You talk to Peter and you realize he’s had the experience, he’s dealt with it, he was the chairman of three State House committees.”
Above all, there is a sense of hope among those involved that the Koutoujian campaign may be the beginning of a larger movement. Festekjian views Koutoujian as an example that “…this can happen, and the more Armenians run, the more Armenians maybe win, people will be more encouraged about it [and say], ‘Actually, know what, we can do this,’ and I’m a firm believer that we can do this and we should do this.” Kaligian notes the special election’s unique opportunity for an Armenian electoral impact: “Another positive for Peter is that this is a special election, so it’s going to be a low voter turnout, so the Armenian vote can actually mean something, where usually we don’t have numbers enough to actually mean anything…The Armenian vote can actually make or break the election. If every Armenian comes out and votes for Peter, we’ll win the election.”
Katie Vanadzin
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