MAGAZINEIndia Abroad

December 20, 2013

The InternationalWeekly Newspaper

Wall Street to Main Street

Neel Kashkari and the run for Governor of California

LARRY DOWNING/REUTERS

He may have notformally declaredhis intent to runfor the governor-ship of Californiayet, but Neel Kas-hkari, 40 — oncedubbed the ‘$700billion man’ foradministering the

Treasury’s bailout of the nation’s leadingbanks under the Troubled Asset ReliefProgram — for all intents and purposes, hasbeen in campaign mode for nearly a year.

He has been crisscrossing the state andtraveling across the country, meeting withpotential donors and financiers and thehierarchy of the GOP establishment, receiv-ing their blessings and pledges of support,and is already talking like a winner who’sprevailed in the Republican primary and isrearing to go toe-to-toe with the Democraticincumbent Jerry Brown, 76.

Brown is highly likely to run for re-elec-tion, much to the chagrin of California Att-orney General Kamala Devi Harris, Lieut-enant Governor Gavin Newsome, and for-mer Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa— all of whom, according to sources, hadbeen exploring a gubernatorial run but weresaid to be frustrated that Brown had nointention of vacating the post.

Kashkari has already met with the likes offormer President George W Bush, in whoseadministration he served as an AssistantSecretary of the Treasury, his former bossand mentor Treasury Secretary Henry Pau-lson, former Florida governor Jeb Bush andformer Indiana governor Mitch Daniels,former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,and a host of other GOP heavyweights, whohave all promised to back him to the hilt.

He has also been arming himself withfacts and figures and policy formulations bymeeting with policy wonks at leading thinktanks and education institutions, rangingfrom the Brookings Institution and theAmerican Enterprise Institute in Wash-ington, DC to the Stanford University’s Ho-over Institution and the Harvard GraduateSchool of Education.

He has met more than 700 potential do-nors in California and across the country,including Indian-American Silicon Valleyheavyweights. Sources have said he alreadyhas pledges to the tune of $10 million. Hecould use this to drown out the message ofhis primary GOP challengers with theiranemic resources and have plenty left overto take on Brown, who also has a campaignchest of $10 million leftover from 2010when he thrashed Meg Whitman, the for-mer eBay chief executive officer, in a land-slide despite her $144 million campaign.

But it’s not just the fat cats Kashkari hasbeen cultivating. His grass-roots activismhas extended to spending nights at home-less shelters, picking strawberries in fields,working in the docks, volunteering at food

banks, marching with over 80,000 Sikhs atthe Yuba City parade, interacting with stu-dents in indigent and minority neighbor-hoods and, according to the San FranciscoChronicle, even worshipping at a Pente-costal Church in South Los Angeles.

The former Wall Street banker, who cuthis teeth at Goldman Sachs, has also beenscrupulously using social media to get hisexploratory message out.

And, as any serious candidate would do,he has deployed some of the leading hired

guns in the political business from both for-mer Republican Presidential nominee MittRomney’s campaign and also operativesfrom former California Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger’s team, including the lat-ter’s Communications Director AaronMcLear as his spokesman.

According to McLear, who also doesn’twant to let on when Kashkari will officiallydeclare his intent to run for governor, ‘He’sdoing exactly what he said he was going todo — which was travel the state, learn aboutthe challenges and see how he can best help.’

Carla Marrinucci, the most plugged inpolitical columnist in the Bay area whowrites the popular The Spin Cycle in theSan Francisco Chronicle, has said theDemocrats have been watching Kashkari’sstealth campaign with bemusement and notbeen averse to snide jabs.

She quoted Democratic campaign strate-gist and Jerry Brown’s political spokesmanDan Newman as saying, ‘A Goldman Sachsguy appointed by Bush to ran TARP? Iguess the head of IRS wasn’t available.’

Marrinucci also said that according topollster Ben Tulchin, Kashkari would bepummeled in the solid-blue California as‘the Bush guy who led the bailout of WallStreet,’ and would have to ‘explain how theysuccessfully bailed out banks whole thehomeowners got stuck.’

Others have said that while the progres-sives and moderates in the RepublicanParty led by the likes of Jeb Bush would liketo show off Kashkari as the new face of theGOP — a party that is diverse and encour-ages a big tent — it wouldn’t be easy toappease the party’s conservative base, con-sidering his track record as the one whooversaw the bailout.

Also, these conservatives wouldn’t taketoo kindly to Kashkari who has said he’spro-choice, supports same-sex marriageand voted for Obama in 2008.

An Indian-American heavyweight inSilicon Valley, who recently brought togeth-er some leading Indian-American SiliconValley entrepreneurs to listen to Kashkariand pledge their support, told India Abroadthat although defeating Brown would cer-tainly be an uphill — if nigh impossible —task, “Even if he loses, he will get majorname ID and recognition, and if theRepublicans take the White House in 2016,you bet he will be up for a senior adminis-tration post, maybe even a cabinet job, per-haps Treasury Secretary. It could also be alaunching pad for a future, more viable runin 2018 for the governorship, and whoknows, even a run for the US Senate.”

In his first interview with a South Asiannewspaper and any media outlet outsideCalifornia, Kashkari spoke to India Abroadabout what pushed him to consider a guber-natorial run in 2014 and why he is a candi-date with a difference.

‘Fundamentally different from whatRepublicans and Democrats have done’

Neel Kashkari, the ‘$700 billion man,’ is in campaign mode for the governorship ofCalifornia.He tells Aziz Haniffa why his message will resonate across party lines,race and the socio-economic spectrum

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Neel Kashkari — as theActing US AssistantSecretary of Treasuryfor FinancialStabilization — testifiesbefore the DomesticPolicy Subcommitteehearing about theTroubled Asset ReliefProgram on Capitol Hillin 2009. The postearned him the moniker‘$700 billion man.’

LARRY DOWNING/REUTERS

When the rumor started circulating thatyou were contemplating a run for Californiagovernor people were surprised, I guessbecause they didn’t comprehend you as apolitical animal. What made you seriouslyexplore running for public office, particular-ly this office?

I feel blessed. My parents came to America50 years ago from India. My family wasn’twealthy, but I had a huge advantage becausemy parents were highly educated and theymade sure that my sister and I got a goodeducation. Because I got a good education,all of the opportunities of America have beenopened to me and that’s what makes Ame-rica great.

But if you look in California, Californiansare struggling — our schools are ranked46th in America, almost one in five Califor-nians, either have no job or are stuck in apart-time job.

If you put these two things together,California has the highest poverty rate inpercentage terms in America.

I looked at this and said we need to makemajor changes in our state so that millions ofpeople are not being left behind.

I looked around the state and said, ‘Whereare the candidates who are really going topush to make these major changes?’ I didn’tsee any.

Frankly, I said if no one else is going to gofight to turn the state around, so that every-body can get a fair chance, I feel like I haveto go do it. That’s really why I am looking atthis.

How do you go from Wall Street to MainStreet? How do you counter criticism — sureto come — that you are a carpetbagger whohas come to California and now wants to runfor governor?

I first moved to California in 1998 when Iwas an aerospace engineer developing tech-nology for NASA. So, California has been myhome for the last 15 years.

Granted I went to Washington for threeyears, but I was still a California voter duringthose times; so California is my home.

My background is that of a normal kidgrowing up in an immigrant family inAmerica. My family was not wealthy.

My father was a professor of engineeringin the University of Akron (Ohio). He dedi-cated his life and research to try to eradicatepoverty in villages in India and in Africa.

I remember (while) growing up that wasalways present in my household; he was

always talking about his work around theworld.

When I was in high school, he got anaward from President George HerbertWalker Bush — the Presidential EndHunger Award. I got to go with him and myfamily to the White House to see him receivethis award.

So, for me, being the son of immigrantsfrom India, running on a platform about fix-ing schools and empowering those who havebeen left behind, that’s fundamentally differ-ent from what Republicans have done andquite frankly, what Democrats have done.

I think it’s necessary that someone bringsbold economic ideas to reach those who havefallen behind.

When people look at the substance of whatI am doing and where I am spending mytime, they are going to see why I am differ-ent.

How do you counter what some people mayperceive as the TARP guy — that probably ishow many still know you as — jumping intothe political fray and running for governorright off the bat? Surely, this is something

your critics would hammer you with.I would argue that I am one of the only

people who worked for both President Bushand President Obama and that we gotRepublicans and Democrats to work togeth-er to tackle the worst economic crisis in 80years.

We got both party leaders to put the coun-try ahead of their own political interests andunder my watch we deployed a little over$400 billion.

What most people don’t realize is that wegot every penny of that back and we evenmade an almost $50 billion profit for thetaxpayer off the banks.

So, tackling this terrible economic crisis ina completely bipartisan manner and protect-ing the taxpayer, I believe people will realizethat that experience is good training to tack-le the major issues in California.

Is the GOP solidly behind you? You recent-ly attended the California GOP conventionand pumped hands, networked and interact-ed.

Neel Kashkari was born and raised in Stow, asuburb of Akron, Ohio.

His parents, Chaman and Sheila Kashkari, wereborn and raised in Srinagar. His father completed hismaster’s degree and PhD at the University ofMichigan and then earned a faculty position at theUniversity of Akron as an electrical engineering pro-fessor. His mother, a physician, works at the AkronCity Hospital.

His older sister, Neera, is a physician in NorthCarolina.

Kashkari is a 1991 graduate of the WesternReserve Academy in Hudson.

He did his graduate studies at the University ofIllinois, and while he was a graduate student major-ing in aerospace engineering, had helped develop asolar-powered race car.

Bloomberg News in a recent profile said, accordingto Bill Mottice, Kashkari’s seventh-grade teacher inStow, this talent and interest in automobiles andengineering had showed itself earlier, as did his intel-lectual curiosity. ‘He is interested in problems andsolutions,’ it said, quoting Mottice, who has remainedin contact with his former student.

Kashkari later got himself an MBA from theUniversity of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School ofBusiness and joined Goldman Sachs, quickly rising tothe position of the company’s vice president in SanFrancisco, and a protégé of the company’s CEOHenry Paulson, who was appointed by PresidentGeorge W Bush to be his Treasury Secretary.

Paulson appointed him Interim Assistant Secretaryof the Treasury for Financial Stability.

Kashkari was 35when his formermentor asked him tomanage the govern-ment’s $700 billionTARP rescue plan.

At the time TheWashington Post,wrote, how ‘overnight,Kashkari became theface of the biggest, andone of the most controver-sial market interventions inAmerican history.’

Kashkari remained incharge of TARP until May 2009,three months into the Obamaadministration. Then he and histhen-wife, Minal, since divorced,retreated to their three-bedroomhouse on 20 acres in Truckee,California, near Lake Tahoe. Itprompted a WashPo profile talkingabout how he was chopping wood andbuilding a shed in this ranch house ofhis as part of a ‘Washington detox.’

Soon after that Pacific InvestmentManagement Company, the Newport Beach,California-based firm with $1.97 trillion undermanagement, said it was hiring Kashkari tomanage an expansion into stocks in its global equi-ties division. Kashkari left PIMCo earlier this yearto explore a run for governor of California.

Who isNEEL KASHKARI?

M3 ‘Fundamentally different from whatRepublicans and Democrats have done’

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JIM YOUNG/REUTERS

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But are the kingmakers and rainmakerslike Karl Rove (GOP policy advisor), etc, intouch with you? More importantly do theysee you as a viable candidate?

I am talking to several Republican leadersthroughout the state and throughout thecountry.

President George W Bush was one of thefirst people I solicited, and got his advice.

Mitch Daniels has been very helpful. Also,Jeb Bush has been very helpful in education-al reform, and Condi Rice out here inCalifornia.

I’ve been meeting with Republican leadersand they are all excited about the ideas andthe focus on the issues.

If you think about the millions of peoplewho are being left behind, the DemocraticParty has not done much, when you thinkabout it. They talk big words and they’vetalked about big social programs.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party hasignored — largely ignored — people fallingbehind.

My message of bringing economic oppor-tunity through good education and a job anda chance to work hard, I believe, is some-thing that’s going to excite Republicans, notjust around California, but around the coun-try and be able to broaden our tent so thatmany more people are joining us.

All the feedback that I’ve got so far fromRepublicans around the state and aroundthe country, have been very, very positive.

President Bush, Jeb Bush and I am sureHank Paulson having been your former men-tor and boss, are supportive of you. Have yougotten their blessings — have they in a sensesaid their endorsement of you is a no-brainerif you run?

I haven’t gotten to the stage of asking forformal endorsements, but they’ve made the-mselves exceptionally available to me, call-ing people on my behalf, making introduc-tions, and most importantly, sharing theirpolicy solutions.

If you look at what Jeb Bush has done inFlorida… The great news is that we knowhow to fix these problems. There are somethings in the world we don’t know how tosolve; we don’t know a cure for cancer, eventhough we are spending billions of dollarslooking for it. But we know how to fixschools — Jeb Bush has done it in Florida.

We know how to grow the economy andcreate jobs; Jeb Bush has done it, MitchDaniels has done it.

These experienced governors are givingme their best ideas from around the countryto California.

Are your twin goals and your key campaignthemes, once you launch the campaign, goingto be poverty alleviation and education?

Absolutely. It’s all about education andjobs. To me, it’s education and jobs that’sgoing to be the only way to break the cycle ofpoverty.

People ask me is this trickle-down eco-nomics and I say, ‘No, it’s the opposite oftrickle-down economics.’

If we fix our state so that those people whohave the most disadvantages can still get agood education and still get a decent job anda chance to work hard, then we know thateveryone in the state will succeed.

So, we start at the bottom and we help lifteveryone up.

I believe besides President Bush, Jeb Bush,Mitch Daniels, Condi Rice and the Repu-blican leadership, you also recently met someleading community leaders and SiliconValley heavyweights? How was the response?

So far, the response has been wonderful.You know as I do, that the Indian communi-ty has a long history of focusing on educationand on reaching those who are falling beh-ind.

I believe it’s not only my upbringing —

watching my parents — but it’s also myIndian heritage that I am able to expresswith this platform.

Indians of all stripes — Democrats, Repu-blicans, Independents — have said to methat if your platform is educating andempowering people, we are excited by thatand we don’t care what party you are. So, thefeedback has been great.

Granted Indian Americans are all for edu-cation and empowerment, but this is the

mantra of every one who runs for politicaloffice.

Why should Indian Americans and thebroader South Asian American communitysupport you, besides the fact that you have acommon heritage with them?

Because our community — Indians inAmerica or South Asians in America — havebenefited so much from America.

A few weeks ago, I went to this Yuba Cityparade, which was the Punjabi parade,where there were over 80,000 Punjabis.

It was an amazing thing to see. Only inAmerica are South Asians so welcome,where they can preserve their culture andtheir heritage and yet be welcomed to ourcommunities and they get a chance to geta good education and work hard.

So I feel that most South Asians agree,most Indians agree, that we have a dutyto give back to America, and we have aduty to help everybody in America enjoythe same privileges and opportunitiesthat we’ve had.

If I run for office, do I want the Indiancommunity and the South Asian commu-nity to support me because I am of aSouth Asian heritage? Absolutely.

But I really want them to support mebecause helping those folks who’ve beenleft behind is the right thing to do and itbenefits everyone.

Every single person that we move fromwelfare to work, we get a two for one ben-efit in our budget because the negative —needing state support — becomes a posi-

tive. I believe my message is going to resonate

across race, it will resonate across party linesand across the socio-economic spectrum.

With your track record with TARP andbailing out the banks, you are not exactlygoing to be a Tea Party favorite. How do youintend to co-opt the conservative base in theGOP to support you?

I am excited by the Tea Party because itrepresents people who are passionate aboutgetting involved in government and beingactive participants in the political process. Ibelieve that’s good and we need more

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‘Fundamentally differentfrom what Republicans

and Democrats have done’

PROLOGUE TO A GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN

Neel Kashkari has connected with the grassroots this year. Among other things he has pickedstrawberries in fields, right; volunteered at food banks, above; marched with over 80,000 Sikhs atthe Yuba City parade, top; interacted with students in indigent and minority neighborhoods; spentnights at homeless shelters and worked in the docks.

Americans to be actively involved in govern-ment of all stripes, number one.

Number two, the ideas that I am develop-ing — education reform and a strong econo-my and economic growth and empower-ment — these are ideas that Republicans ofall stripes are rallying behind.

So, I am meeting with a lot of conservativeactivists and I say to them, I want to fix theschools, I want to grow the economy, I wantto create jobs, and I don’t think governmentspending is the solution.

I believe it’s getting people skills and let-ting them work hard. The Tea Party peoplelove that and say that it’s a great solution.

I feel the two issues that I am focused on —narrowly focused on — jobs and educationwill resonate with virtually all Republicansas well as Independents and even moderateDemocrats.

But let’s face it: Most of your support thusfar has been from the moderate, progressive,Republicans, who are sort of an endangeredspecies now.

How do you bring the conservative basewith you when they point out that you’ve gotthe likes of Jeb Bush and everyone else whobelongs to this middle-of-the-road, non-con-frontational Republicans, who don’t want togo head-to-head with the Democrats on theseissues, including social issues?

California is different from the rest of thecountry. So you are right, the politics of, forexample, Jeb Bush, if he were to run forpresident, would have to face a very differentlandscape than what California looks like.

Right now in California, the RepublicanParty has been under a lot of stress, a lot ofchallenges, and the Democrats have a super-majority in both the legislative bodies —they have every state-wide office.

So, what I’ve found is that a lot ofRepublicans are saying, ‘Listen, we need tofocus on those issues that we have in com-mon that unite us and take that message for-ward because we need to be relevant again.’

A lot of Republicans have said to me, youknow what, this may not have been the opti-mal platform four years ago or eight yearsago, but the ideas that you are pushing for-ward today make a lot of sense today and wecan get behind that.

You have still got a primary challenge

where the Tea Party has got its own favoriteand there are also a couple of others in thefray.

How do you intend to overcome this pri-mary challenge because that’s where thenitty-gritty is going to be played up in termsof progressives, conservatives, middle-of-theroaders, etc, and compounding all this wouldbe that you’ll be portrayed as the Wall Streetand TARP guy who bailed out the banks?

Sure, but two things. One is, and you prob-ably know this, the law has now changed andit’s an open primary where everyone can beon the ballot together and everyone votestogether.

There is no longer separate Republicanand Democratic primary. So, that maychange the dynamic for more crossovervotes.

Number two — and you can dig up thisdata — Tim Donnelly (from Twin Peaks,California) is one of the candidates who isrunning and he is the Tea Party favorite, andin nine months of active campaigning, he’sraised — I may get the number wrong —about $100,000.

Abel Maldanado (a former lieutenant gov-ernor and a rancher from Santa Maria), theother candidate, in six to nine months ofactive campaigning, has raised about$300,000 or $400,000.

So, unless either of them is able to raise theresources to get their name out there, it’sreally going to come down to fundraising.

If I can out-fundraise them, then we’ll bein a very strong position to get our messageout and reach conservatives as well as mod-erates throughout the state.

So far, in the last 11 months, I’ve met withalmost 700 donors around California andaround the country and I feel, from the feed-back I am getting, that if I run, we’ll be ableto raise the financial resources that we needto be competitive, not just in the primary,but in the general.

It seems your strategy — going by your con-fidence that you’ve already got a critical massof financiers donors, who’ve pledged theirsupport — is to completely out-flank and

overwhelm these guys in terms of fund-rais-ing and drown out their message with yours?

I don’t know about completely out-flank-ing them, but the feedback that I’ve beengetting is that we’ll be able to raise enoughmoney to be very competitive, both in theprimary —and if we can get through the pri-mary then in the general.

I am not yet a candidate, so I have notraised a dollar yet. That needs to come. Butthe feedback I have been getting has beenvery positive and that’s what gives me a greatdeal of optimism.

All the donors I have been meeting withhave been very encouraging. All the grass-roots communities I’ve gone into have beenwonderful, and talking to the best policyminds in the country has convinced me thatwe know how to fix these problems and canbring big solutions so that every kid inCalifornia can get a good education and peo-ple have a chance to get a decent job andwork hard.

Those are the three things that I continueto work at and so far, I am feeling very opti-mistic.

Would you be pumping in any of your ownmoney too?

No. It’s funny people think that because Iworked on Wall Street, I am thisbillionaire. I am very comfortable, but Idon’t have enough money to finance thiscampaign.

I will have to go and raise the money fromdonors across the country who care aboutthese issues and who want to turn Californiaaround.

How do you live down the fact that youvoted for Obama? Won’t that be anotherchink in your armor?

With the truth, which is, the only time in

my life I voted for a Democrat for Presidentwas in 2008.

The first time I voted was for GeorgeHerbert Walker Bush in 1992 when he wasrunning for re-election against Bill Clinton.

The reason I voted for Obama was becausemy job at Treasury was to stave off the greatdepression and prevent an economic col-lapse and at Treasury we had a lot of expo-sure to both campaigns and we were keepingboth the McCain campaign and the Obamacampaign abreast of what we were doingbecause we wanted their support — we did-n’t want them to be attacking us when wewere negotiating with Congress.

While honestly, I deeply admire andrespect John McCain, I couldn’t believe thedifference in the quality of economic advicethat Barack Obama was getting from whatJohn McCain was receiving from his team.

So, I felt that Barack Obama was betterequipped to handle the acute economic cri-sis in 2008. That’s why I voted for Obama.

Now, I think that was true. He continuedall of President Bush’s programs that westarted under the TARP and he asked me tostay and we continued to complete the pro-grams. We stabilized the economy, we gotthe money back.

Now, I don’t agree with President Obamaon his broader economic agenda that is verydisappointing.

I also believed Obama when he said he wasgoing to bring both parties together. Ibelieved him and he didn’t do that. Iwatched him become, in my opinion, a par-tisan warrior where he’s battled the politicsmuch more than healing the country andthat’s why I supported Mitt Romney in 2012.

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We have a duty to give back to America, and we havea duty to help everybody in America enjoy the sameprivileges and opportunities that we’ve had.

Neel Kashkari lives in athree-bedroom home in

Laguna Beach overlookinga cove by the Pacific

Ocean with his 150-poundNewfoundland dogs,

Winslow, left, andNewsome, right, named

after the stars of theCleveland Browns football

team, which he has saidhas been his favorite NFL

team since his days ofgrowing up in Ohio.

COURTESY: FACEBOOK.COM/NEELKASHKARI

How will the changing demographics inCalifornia affect your campaign?

I am spending a huge amount of my timein poor communities across California — inLatino communities, in African Americancommunities, in Asian communities, literal-ly sleeping in homeless shelters, pickingstrawberries in the fields, going to schools inthe poorest neighborhoods.

What has been amazing is when I go intothese communities, people couldn’t care lessthat I am Republican. They are so shockedthat someone is there who genuinely wantsto learn what their life is like.

Mitt Romney had these unfortunate wordsabout 47 percent when he ran for President.The campaign I would run would turn thatupside down where here’s a young Repub-lican son of immigrants who looks different,whose entire campaign is focused on gettingto know, reaching out to those communitiesthat are left behind and empowering themwith good education and a good job.

Reaching the changing demographics ofCalifornia is going to be the core of the cam-paign I would run.

What’s your take on the Senate immigra-tion bill by the bi-partisan Gang of Eight?

It’s a reasonable start. To me, this needs tobe solved at the national level. Each stategoing their own way doesn’t make any sense.But I have four different principles that gov-ern how I think about immigration.

Number one, the status quo is a disasterand while we should aim for perfection, let’snot expect perfection — let’s make it better.

Number two, we have 12 or 13 million whoare here illegally today. We are never goingto deport them. So, we should not talk aboutdeporting them.

I want 12 or 13 million more taxpayers inAmerica — that means they need some formof legal status so they can file their taxes.

Number three, immigration is a huge com-petitive edge for America — the fact thatpeople want to come here. We should reformour immigration laws to put priority in theskills that we need in our economy.

Silicon Valley says they need more engi-neers and yet farmers in California say theyneed more workers. We should reform ourpolicies to encourage those needs.

And, finally, we need to enforce the law.There is no point having any policies, nomatter how thoughtful if it goes unenforced.So, we need to enforce the law at the borderand in the cities and in the businesses.

These are my basic principles and I believethe Senate bill is a reasonable starting place.There are a lot of details to be worked out,but it needs to be dealt with nationally forthe entire country, and we need to recognizethe huge contribution immigrants make toAmerica.

Do you feel that there should be one com-prehensive immigration bill or are you of theopinion that there could be a couple of sepa-rate bills where for instance PhD, masterscandidate among foreign students, particu-larly in STEM (science, technology, engineer-ing, mathematics) subjects, should haveGreen Cards stamped to their graduate degr-ees as some Republican lawmakers in the USSenate and House have argued?

I’d love giving masters and PhD studentsin the STEM green cards. The idea that weare educating people here at Stanford andMIT and then sending them home is crazy.

Whether Congress wants to do this in apackage or a few packages, I’d defer to them,but that’s a great idea that we absolutelyneed to be advocating for.

Once you launch your campaign, will youendeavor to get the likes of LouisianaGovernor Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Gov-ernor Nikki Haley to endorse you? Have yousent out feelers to them?

If I make the decision to run, and I amvery, very seriously considering it. I will con-tinue to reach out to governors across thecountry, including Governor Jindal, includ-ing Governor Haley and solicit not only theirsupport but also importantly, their advice.Both matter. So, yes, absolutely.

How did your parents and your sibling feelabout you exploring a career in politics?

They are excited. They didn’t know what tothink. When I gave up my job at Goldman

Sachs to go to Treasury, honestly peoplethought I was crazy… But in 2006, when Idecided to do it, to me, it was a once in a life-time chance to serve our country and givesomething back and learn how governmentworks. So my parents are used to me pursu-ing my passions wherever they lead me.

If you do run and win the Republican pri-mary, Governor Jerry Brown, who is likely toseek re-election has got a tremendous infra-structure — a massive war-chest, support oftrade unions, and the Democratic establish-ment party machinery.

How are you going to fight a battle with aguy who, many say, would overwhelm youand drown you, with early polls indicatingthat none of the Republican challengerswould pose a challenge to him?

That would certainly be what he tries todo. But here’s the thing. Twenty-three per-cent Californians live in poverty today. Ilike and respect Governor Brown and Ithink he’s competent and presiding overthe status quo. But the status quo is horri-ble for millions of Californians.

What I would want to do is make thiscampaign about the millions ofCalifornians that have fallen behind — thatdon’t have a job today — so that when heattacks me, I will say, you talk to them, youtell them that they really have a good shot,when they know they don’t.

They will be who I will be fighting for.How do you also counter another argu-

ment about your judgment that you’vedeployed the likes of Aaron McLear to beyour main spokesman when he’s the guywho worked for (then Republican GovernorArnold) Schwarzenegger and was Arnold’schief communications guy?

Governor Schwarzenegger was someonewho was not a partisan guy. He workedwith anybody to try to bring solutions.

I respect Governor Schwarzenegger. Idon’t think he was successful as we allhoped he would be, but he certainly wasnot an ideologue.

I will work with anybody of any party whowants to bring solutions to this state, justlike I did in Washington.

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‘Fundamentally different from whatRepublicans and Democrats have done’

Neel Kashkari was an impressive presence at this year’s India Abroad Person of the Year event in New York.

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Once the film is in post production, heobviously checks, but only at the end.

He is an ideal producer, fantastic to workwith. He has a sharp mind.

In 2003, we were making Dhoom. Thecast was John Abraham, who had just onehit in Jism, Abhishek Bachchan, who hadeight to nine flops, and Uday Chopra,whose Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai with Rs 8crore (Rs 80 million or $1.6 million then)budget earned Rs 20 to 25 crore (Rs 200million to Rs 250 million or $4 millionthen to $5 million then) but still, he had notarrived like Shah Rukh Khan.

Esha Deol had flops; Rimi Sen only had ahit in Hungama.

With such a cast, Adi spent around Rs 10to 11 crore (Rs 100 million to 110 million or$2 million then to $2.1 million then) on agenre of film (action) the company is notcomfortable with.

If any other filmmaker had made it, hewould have spent just Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25million or $500,000 then). If the budgethad been less, the film could not haveturned out the way it did.

That is the sixth sense of Aditya Chopra.He gives a film the best chance. If it doesn’twork, he moves on.

After you left Yash Raj Films, you directedKidnap and Ajab Gazabb Love, and nei-ther did well. What went wrong?

I have learnt one good thing from AdityaChopra: You select a particular story thatexcites you, get stars and shoot it and makea film out of it.

The excitement level and conviction ineach of my six films is the same, that I am amaking a kickass movie. Some films workand some don’t.

I know what’s gone wrong with my filmsbecause I analyze my films more than any-one. But there is no point talking about it.

I work equally hard on all my films. Infact, I worked harder on Kidnap becausethat was the first one after Dhoom 2 and Iwas out of Yash Raj.

The success of the film doesn’t depend onhow hard you have worked or how good themusic was, or how big the publicity andrelease were. It is the mixture of a lot ofthings.

With Yash Raj, you were a hit filmmakerand your next three films were flops.Wouldn’t it have been wiser to sign anotherthree-film deal with Yash Raj?

You are bang on right as far as my hitsand flops are concerned. But don’t evaluatemy career now. When I have finished mycareer, and made 14 films then say whetherI was a flop director.

You can’t evaluate Rajkumar Hirani’scareer as he is just three films old. But peo-ple call him the greatest filmmaker of alltime.

He is my friend and edited my first film.He is shocked when people talk about himlike that.

What are you working on right now? I am not working on anything. I am just

looking for stories that will excite me.

M9

The filmmakerwho createdDhoom

I would argue that I amone of the only peoplewho worked for bothPresident Bush andPresident Obama andthat we got Republicansand Democrats to worktogether to tackle theworst economic crisis in80 years.

WALL STREET TO MAIN STREETIndia Abroad December 20, 2013

THE MAGAZINE M11