Will Asian Americans Be 2012′s Stealth Swing Vote?

By John | Monday, May 7, 2012 | 5 Comments

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Hand marking ranked ballot Will Asian Americans Be 2012s Stealth Swing Vote?

Although Asian Americans make up almost 6% of the U.S. population, you might not think that we might be “swing voters” that could help determine the next president of the United States this fall. Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote (AAPI Vote) and the Asian American Justice Center conducted a recent survey, and from the results:

“In swing states such as Nevada, Florida, and Virginia, the Asian-American vote could prove decisive. The poll oversampled voters in those states and found a closer race than nationally: In Nevada, it was Obama 54, Romney 29; in Florida, it was 57-29; and in Virginia, 57-20.”

There are a growing Asian American population in those states and it would be interesting to see if indeed the election was called due to Asian American swing voters. The report also goes on to detail how both major political parties have essentially ignored the Asian American voter. Not necessarily a wise thing…

NPR last week also interviewed one of the co-authors of the report, Mee Moua, president of the Asian American Justice Center (She’s also the first Asian American to elected into the Minnesota State Senate). The most interesting tidbit was:

“We found similar trends with higher numbers of independent voters. To the question of what’s happening to Asian-American voters over time, if you look at the data from, for example, the National Election Poll which is the exit poll data conducted after – at the polling places after Americans vote, you’ll see that between 1992 and 2008 the proportion of Asian-Americans voting Democratic has basically doubled, from 31 percent in 1992 up until 62 percent voting for the Democratic candidate in 2008.”

When asked, Moua ultimately did not give any real good reason why. I think I have theorized that, in comparison to the overall American national average, Asian Americans are more well educated, and those who have more education, tend to lean Democratic. Additionally, a good number of Asian Americans live in “blue” states, as well as more live in urban centers, which also lean Democratic.

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

http://www.facebook.com/tinabot Tina Tsai

I hope so! I’m not registered as part of any party, but I’ve pretty consistently voted democrat on almost everything. So I guess I’m one of the swing voters, except I’m in California, and I’d be swinging in the same direction as the majority of voters here.

My first choice on the bubble picture would be George Washington and 2nd choice Abraham Lincoln. Third Choice would be John Adams, only because I don’t like how Jefferson screwed over the Native Americans…
bo jackson

I think candidates would still rather use most of their resource to get the Hispanic vote (after Whites and Blacks, of course) way before Asians. It’s also easier since ‘Hispanics’ will be Mexican most of the time, as opposed to Puerto Ricans, Cubans, South Americans, etc. Smart candidates know that ‘Asians’ are such a varied group (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, etc etc etc etc etc) and each group is as similar as Canadians and Africans, for example. It’s too hard to cater to ‘Asians’ because of this.

First we have to iron out our differences and show that we’re united, just as African Americans did in the 50′s through 70′s. Until this happens, we won’t be taken as seriously by media and politics as Blacks and, more recently, Hispanics.

Either that or we can start mating like rabbits and have a minimum of 3-5 kids per family. So by 2030 the voting Asian population will be comparable to Blacks and Hispanics…
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