Asian Americans Flex Political Muscles in Presidential Election

The nation’s fast-growing Asian American population of nearly 15 millions has been often overlooked and dismissed as a political factor in the past. That is no longer true in this presidential election as Asian Americans are actively engaged in campaigns for Obama and McCain.

The Washington Post appears to be one of the few mainstream news that reported on an increasingly significant Asian American role in the political landscape.

Asian Americans have traditionally taken their voting rights seriously, but they haven’t always actively participated in the campaigning process.

In 2008, Asian Americans in Virginia, Nevada, and Washington have registered as voters at a higher percentage than Latino Americans. Asian Americans have also embraced their roles in the political process based on their campaigning activities for their candidates.

According to the recent National Asian American Survey (NAAS) that showed Asian Americans across the country favor Senator Obama at 41% over 24% for Senator McCain, but that 34% remains undecided, which could make Asian American votes critical in these states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Nevada, Washington, and Minnesota. There is a significant Hmong Vietnamese American population in Minnesota that has often been overlooked outside of the state.

In Virginia, the voting demographic tends to vary greatly among generations and different Asian American communities. The Washington Post mentioned that older former refugees from communist countries, Viet Nam and Korea admire McCain for his military records. In contrast, younger Asian Americans tend to favor Obama.

A Vietnamese American in his 80s is upset that the Virginia Board of Election hasn’t respond to his repeated request to update his new address. While a Chinese American who has recently moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia frets about his absentee ballot might not arrive in time for him to cast his ballot.

Many Korean Americans present another picture; especially Christians and small business owners tend to be drawn to the Republican values.

Virginia could be a pivotal state because Senator Jim Webb, an Obama supporter, has burnished his appeal to the Vietnamese American electorate in Virginia as a Marine combat veteran, a former Secretary of the Navy, and his wife is Vietnamese American. It was the Vietnamese American voters that sent Webb to the Senate in a close race against incumbent George Allen in 2006.

A Vietnamese American non-profit organization in Falls Church, Virginia, the Boat People SOS (bpsos.org) has organized a get-out-the-vote campaign which included phone banks and weekend canvassing in Virginia. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, executive director of Boat People SOS said, “This is the first time I’ve seen multiethnic coalitions forming around an election. The margin is razor-thin in Virginia, so we could still be a swing vote. Asian Americans realize this election is their opportunity to get noticed.”

Remarkably, Mr. Rhodes Cook wrote in his Wall Street Journal blog, Oct.16, that the Asian American votes could be critical in tipping one or more the battleground states to the Democrats or the Republicans. If a campaign is looking for one or two percentage points, Asian American votes can be the key source.