The Value of Asian Voters
March 1, 2008
After the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday exit polls (which reported that 75 percent of Asian Americans voted for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama) and the results from the Hawai‘i Democratic caucuses (which Obama won with 76 percent), the Asian vote became a hot topic of discussion. Suddenly, the Asian vote mattered. The close race between the two candidates has highlighted the value of the Asian American vote to swing a close election.
Clayton Fong, a George H.W. Bush appointee from 1989 to 1993 and former chair of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, said that though the trend may be to vote Democrat, Asian Americans are still a population without a clear affiliation. The typical Asian voter, he said, is not simply a party-line voter, but votes according to information retrieved from inside the community and from ethnic media. Very often the Asian American voter registers as “not affiliated,” “decline to state” or Independent. In fact, although the Latino population may be larger, Asians proportionately have a “much higher percentage of swing votes.”
Fong said that older Asian Americans, many of whom have closer ties to Asia, traditionally voted Republican due to strong anti-Communist attitudes. But the recent growing competition among GOP politicians to be toughest on immigration has created a break in support for the Republican Party.
Margaret Fung, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City, said that although the Asian American voter may not hold the immigration issue as a priority next to the economy or health care, an alienating stance from any political party on the issue could negatively influence the Asian American vote.
According to an Asian American Democratic operative from Northern Virginia, who spoke under anonymity due to neutrality issues, many naturalized immigrants view education as a top priority, and therefore may support affirmative action and educational initiatives spearheaded by the Democratic Party.
Harold Pyon, the first vice chairman of the National Asian American Republican Coalition, also said that it is difficult to pin down the Asian American voter’s politics. Pyon suggested that the Asian community is “confused,” as a voting bloc courted by neither party as much as it should be — and is, therefore, less apt to feel an urgency to vote at all.
The Clinton era gained much Asian American support, and some think that the fondness and familiarity of Bill Clinton has proved fruitful for Hillary among Asian American voters. There is an “institutional memory” of people when it comes to the Clinton name, the operative said: “It was the Clinton administration that appointed the first Asian American Cabinet member. Also, you saw the creation of the Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. They reached out to APA communities. [They said,] ‘I want an administration that looks like America.’”
Since Super Tuesday, however, Obama has seen a rise in support from Asian Americans. Keith Kamisugi, a blogger for AsianAmericansforObama.com, wrote in an e-mail that “indication of support [for Clinton] based on exit polling of AAPIs is now old news. Hawai‘i, a largely AAPI state, went 3-to-1 for Sen. Obama.”
Luis Miranda, deputy communications director with the DNC, said Asian Americans are considered part of “the base of the Democratic Party,” and that the party’s Asian outreach is a year-round effort, showing that it’s not a group taken for granted.
Visibility and familiarity may help gain Asian American votes, but direct outreach to Asian communities has proven to be the most effective way to sway voters. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican of California, organized heavy outreach to the state’s 2.5 million Asian voters during his 2003 campaign — and won with 62 percent of their vote. “Arnold’s biggest margin of victory was among Asian Americans,” Fong said.
While there may not be a monolithic Asian American voting bloc, “those most successful are able to recognize the diversity, and don’t treat Koreans like they treat Chinese like they treat Vietnamese,” the Democratic operative said. “Those who can maneuver between the different communities” are the ones who win votes.
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4 Responses to “The Value of Asian Voters”
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Most Asians hate African Americans. Why make this complicated?
Thomas P.
I think your post relies upon a blanket assumption that oversimplifies the issue at hand. Given the diversity of the Asian and Pacific Islander experience - socio-economic status, educational attainment, geographic location, and history of immigration and political awareness - I find it more appropriate to explore the current campaigns with more of an analytical approach. In other words, “it is complicated.”
Sorry tommy, you’re kind of a simple man. if asians hated blacks so much, obama wouldn’t have won 76-24 in the hawaii caucuses regardless of native son status or not. if anything, the fact that caucuses bring out the most fervent supporters further undermines your juvenile assumption
A couple of years ago, I was almost turned away from voting. I am an Asian-American and have been a naturalized American citizen for 28 years. I have voted every year since I became an American citizen. I
live in a Republican, white dominated area. In March 2006 during the primary election, I went to my designated polling location to vote.
One of the poll workers, who was white, checked the voter list and said that my name was not on it and that I could not vote. I was shocked! I told her that I had been registered and I had voted last November. I showed her my voting manual and on it was the correct polling address. She replied expressionlessly,”Your name is not on the list. You can’t vote.” I insisted that I should be able to vote. Finally, an Asian worker overheard us, and told me to check the other table to see if my name was on that list. I went to the other table and, sure enough, my name was on that list. I couldn’t stop thinking why that worker would not tell me in the first place to check
with the other table. I was pretty sure it had to do with my ethnic background and/or the party that I was affiliated with.
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE NOT TURNED AWAY FROM VOTING.