Vietnamese Americans

Three years ago, Madison Nguyen became the fresh new face of Vietnamese American politics, an upward-bound city politician in San Jose. She was splashed on magazine covers; the chosen one who seemingly held the hopes of the city's emerging Vietnamese community. Now she is in a fight for her political career, targeted by Vietnamese Americans who believe she has betrayed them. Voters will decide on Tuesday whether to unseat the 34-year-old councilwoman.

For eight days, protesters paraded in front of one of Little Saigon's leading newspapers. They carried an effigy of Ho Chi Minh and called the editors "traitors" for running a photo they said was so offensive that it had to be the work of communist sympathizers. Two top editors at the newspaper were replaced several days later.

Even before Hoa Thi Le left Vietnam, she heard about California's booming nail business from her brothers and sisters. All six became manicurists after arriving in America. So when Le came to Orange County in December, she went straight to beauty school. "My family told me, 'Do nails. It's easy,' " said Le, 49, as she practiced brushing hot-pink polish on a woman's toenails at Advance Beauty College in Garden Grove. "So I just followed them."

After a two-year legal battle with the city of Garden Grove, a Vietnamese Buddhist congregation has won a settlement paving the way for a 10,000-square-foot temple to be built on the site of a former medical building -- a spot the city had claimed was inappropriate for a church.

The first Vietnamese American in the country was elected to public office 16 years ago when Tony Lam won a seat on the Westminster City Council, making history for a refugee group that fled after the Vietnam War and settled in Orange County. Lam's election made national headlines and Vietnamese leaders had high hopes that he would become the bridge to help connect mainstream America and the Vietnamese.

Nhon Ky Phan sees John McCain as a brother, a man who -- much like him -- suffered through harrowing days as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. "What happened to me was what happened to him," he said in Vietnamese. "John McCain is my comrade."

In Orange County's Little Saigon, Tuesday's election didn't go quite as planned: The winning streak of Vietnamese American candidates in recent county and municipal ballots was snapped. Voters in central Orange County failed to deliver Vietnamese American candidates to the city councils of Westminster and Garden Grove, and of the handful of Vietnamese American candidates to compete for public office in Orange County, only two incumbents won.

Westminster became the first city in America with a Vietnamese-majority city council after a final tabulation of votes Monday shifted the winners in two Orange County cities. Two Vietnamese American candidates who had been trailing after initial vote counts on election day emerged as winners when the Orange County registrar certified the final results of the Nov. 4 election. In Westminster, Truong Diep initially trailed Penny Loomer by 1,500 votes.

Just a few days ago, congressional candidate Anh "Joseph" Cao of New Orleans had typical underdog problems: Many people didn't know who he was or how to pronounce his name or what, exactly, he was running for. On Monday -- two days after his victory over the Democratic incumbent, Rep. William J.

The two Republicans named Nguyen entered the race for a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors as blips on the establishment's screen: He an obscure school board member, she a neophyte councilwoman. Against them stood candidates anointed by the Republican and Democratic machines -- as well as the wisdom that in immigrant-rich central Orange County, party loyalties won elections.