POLLS: Despite voter registration push, Asian/Americans shunning politics

By Louis Chan
Reprinted from AsAm News

TWO SURVEYS recently released paint a vivid picture of Asian American voters.

Although both surveys were conducted in California, the scarcity of polling on Asian /Americans and the large population of Asian Americans in the Golden State (30.9 percent of Asian/Americans live in California) make the results significant.

The survey conducted by the University of California, Riverside School of Public Policy and the Advancement Project found Asian/American and Latino voters lag in political participation when compared to White and Black voters.

“Our political system is in trouble when some groups have significantly more say than others,” said political scientist Karthick Ramakrishnan, co-author of the report and associate dean of the UC Riverside School of Public Policy. “This election cycle rightly has brought heightened awareness about class inequality, but our report raises the alarm about racial disparities in political participation that persist even after taking class into account.”

A poll from the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State University, Los Angeles, revealed young Asian American voters are more socially liberal and more likely to be born in the United States. Older Asian American voters are more socially conservative, more likely to be foreign born and less likely to participate in the Democratic process.

The results also mirror recent national polling.

The Pat Brown Institute surveyed 1608 Asian American voters in multiple languages (Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog and English), but only in Los Angeles County where there are 1.34 million Asian Americans. It found Filipino and Japanese American voters had the greatest English language proficiency among Asian Americans. It also found that foreign born were more religious than native born with Filipinos and Korean Americans much more so than Chinese and Japanese.

59% of Asian American voters in Los Angeles County are foreign born versus 42% American born. However, native born voters are more likely to contact their elected officials, attend a public meeting, protest, volunteer in a campaign and donate to a candidate.

“Whenever I volunteered on campaigns and we did phone banking in (the Korean) language, we used to get skyrocketing numbers of ‘yeses,’” said David Ryu to Voice of America. He is the first Korean American elected to the Los Angeles City Council. “And many of the campaigns thought, ‘How is this possible?’ It’s because no one ever told them to vote!”

VOTING RATES AMONG ADULT CITIZENS

Despite the differences, the polling found Asian/Americans across age and ethnicity agree on the desire for representation, support for increase in minimum wage, health care and immigration reform and are religious (even among younger voters).

Younger voters are much more likely to support a path to citizenship, same sex marriage and legalized abortion.

The survey was released June 29.

One day later UC Riverside and the Advancement Project released its survey. It found just 1 in 20 Asian Americans and Latinos had contacted their elected officials versus 1 in 10 Blacks and 1 in 6 Whites.

Socioeconomic factors account for these differences, but even when factors such as home ownership, education and income were removed, Blacks and Whites still outpaced Asians and Latinos in political participation. Lower rates of citizenship worsen the problem.

In the last three presidential races, just 53 percent of Pacific Islanders and 48% of Asian Americans went to the polls compared to 65 percent and 68 percent for Blacks and Whites.

The participation is worse in the midterm elections when 41 percent of Pacific Islanders and 32 percent of Asian Americans voted in the last three elections versus 38 percent and 53 percent for Blacks and Whites.

“We cannot achieve a healthy democracy for all when the voices of communities of color are shut out of our political process,” said John Kim, executive director of the  Advancement Project. “Policymaking in Sacramento and in cities and counties across the state must reflect the diverse range of voices that now make up California.”

Can Hillary Clinton win over Millennial Asian/American Bernie Sanders supporters

 

Hillary Clinton won the support of most Asian/American voters.

By Aswin Mannepalli
Reprinted from AsAm News

NATHAN LOWE is the son of first-generation Chinese/Americans who deeply identified with their Evangelical faith and the Republican Party.  His turn leftward began after his exposure to Asian/American and ethnic studies courses.  “I got involved in a local community organization that was formed to fight Walmart’s incursion into LA Chinatown,” he remembered.

He supports Senator Bernie Sanders for president and volunteers for his campaign. Nathan is part of a trend that sees young Asian/Americans lean further to the left than prior generations.

Professor Karthick Ramakrishnan analyzes AAPI politics and he finds that AAPIs younger than 35, just as the general electorate in their age group,  strongly support the Vermont senator.  An Asian/American voter survey commissioned by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and AAPI Data found that while Clinton leads overall among Asian Americans with 33% support to Sanders’s 26%, Bernie has decisively captured the 18–34 share with 61% support.  Clinton has held leads among older age-groups.

“Young Asian/American voters’ strong support for Sanders is in line with their ideology—they are more likely than older Asian/Americans to call themselves liberal, and they are even more progressive than the general Asian American population when it comes to issues like raising the minimum wage and making college more affordable,” Professor Ramakrishnan of the University of California, Irvine and AAPI Data said summarizing the study.

Some of those Asian/Americans who support Clinton point to her pragmatism as the deciding factor in their vote.

“Hillary supports things like raising the minimum wage, protecting our environment, criminal justice reform, and campaign finance reform, but she is also pragmatic about the ways in which she wants to enact these goals,” said Sahil Mehrotra. A rising senior at the College of William and Mary, he co-founded a pro-Hillary student group on campus.

He acknowledges, however, that Hillary’s message is not immediately resonating with Sahil’s generation.  “In general,” he conceded, “I think my generation might be considered pro-Bernie.”

Professor Larry Shinagawa, former Director of University of Maryland ‎Asian American Studies Program said “many older Asian/Americans have long standing established relationships with the former Clinton and Obama administrations and this familiarity is the key driver of support for the Hillary campaign,”

Younger Asian/Americans, on the other hand, exist politically and economically outside of this structure and are more vulnerable and consequently attuned to changes that are reshaping American life.  “They are experiencing the fundamental transformation of America and feel that the challenges this post-modern society faces can best be addressed by Senator Sanders,” Shinagawa added.

Perhaps the complicated calculus that underpins the voting decisions of Asian Americans can best be seen in the case of 80-20 Initiative’s decision to endorse Hillary Clinton for the Democratic primary.  The organization was founded by the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, Dr. S.B. Woo, and advocates for Asian/American causes.

“In my heart I liked Bernie’s candidacy more,” Woo,79, said. “But I worked very hard to get Asian Americans to vote for Hilary in the California primary, because 80-20 as a group decided that Hillary had the better likelihood to fulfill her promises to AAPIs than Bernie.”

“Hillary Clinton is the most qualified person to run for president in recent memory, and with her, we will be stronger together,”  said Mehrotra, the student at William and Mary College who started the pro-Hillary campus group.  That said, Sahil believes that Clinton will draw more support as the general election nears.  “I think that the level of excitement for Hillary from my generation is understated in general, and I’m excited to see it revealed in the coming weeks and months,” he predicted.

Interestingly, the popular Feel the Bern campaign slogan was popularized by an Asian American, Winnie Wong, who co-founded People for Bernie. Wong’s work is credited with bringing many new voters into mainstream politics. But will they stay?

Ramakrishnan isn’t so sure. He believes the implications for the Democratic Party and Asian America are still unclear.   “It remains to be seen whether many of these first-timers will continue to be involved, either with the Clinton campaign or in trying to push for progressive politics in the months and years ahead.”

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SURVEY: Asian/Americans are well aware of xenophobic rhetoric

Reprinted from AsAm News

A NEW SURVEY released last week by Asian Americans Advancing Justice indicates Asian Americans are taking notice of the Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric dominating the presidential race.

Voters were asked “if a political candidate expressed strongly anti-immigration views, but you agreed with him or her on other issues, would you still vote for that candidate or would you vote for someone else?”

Forty percent of those surveyed said they would not vote for a candidate who spouted anti-immigrant rhetoric. 35 percent said they still would with the rest either undecided or declined to state.

“The survey shows that Asian Americans are paying close attention to political discourse, and will not vote for a candidate expressing exclusionary rhetoric that only serves to separate communities. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim language will not win over Asian American voters,” said Mee Moua, president and executive director of Asian Americans 
Advancing Justice | AAJC. 

“Candidates on both sides of the aisle need to pay attention to our community,” she added, “but our survey continues to show that the majority of Asian American voters have not been contacted by political parties in the past year.”

The rhetoric may help explain the sharp increase of Asian Americans identifying as Democrat. The survey found a 12 point increase from 2012 to 2016.

Hillary Clinton has a 62 percent favorability rating among Asian American voters compared to 48 percent for Bernie Sanders and 19 percent for Donald Trump.

Young Asian Americans are a key demographic to watch with income inequality ranking high among their concerns. They also had the strongest reaction against exclusionary anti-immigration rhethoric.

“The Republican National Committee’s Growth and Opportunity Project signaled an interest in outreach to Asian American communities and may have partly succeeded in 2014,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor at University of California Riverside and director of AAPI Data. “But, harsh rhetoric by several candidates in 2015 and 2016 seems to have eroded those again and, indeed, might have made the situation even worse.”

Overall for Asian Americans, the Democrats have the advantage on the issues of the environment, racial profiling, education, social security and immigration reform.

Republicans have the advantage on terrorism.

Asian American voter registration has increased 600,000 per presidential election cycle. The number of congressional candidates from the Asian American community increased from 10 in 2010 to 40 in 2016.

“Voter outreach and education by nonpartisan organizations remains critical and 2016 is poised to be the largest mobilization effort we have seen for the AAPI community,” said Christine Chen, executive director of APIAVote.

The poll of 1,212 registered voters was conducted in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese between April 11 and May 17 of this year by landline and cellphone.

 “The survey shows key problem spots where Asian American registered voters feel that the political system is not responsive to their needs. Greater investments are needed from the campaigns and parties.”

You can read the full report here.

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Bernie Sanders makes inroads with AAPI voters

Sanders Campaign photo

Days before the Illinois primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders met with AAPI community leaders.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS met with a score of leaders from the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Chicago.

During the meeting, the first the Democratic candidate held exclusively with AAPIs, he discussed the need fro immigration reform, securing voting rights and providing affordable healthcare for all Americans.

Joining Sanders was Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who resigned from her position of vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee so she could endorse the Vermont senator. 

"Our communities have often been the difference between winning and losing," said Gabbard, the first Hindu/American to serve in Congress. "The margin of victory makes a difference."

RELATED: Clinton reaches out to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

“In times where Islamophobia and xenophobia are running rampant, where Asian-Americans are victims of racial profiling, where black and brown people are targets of police brutality, Sanders stands up for the marginalized with his policies,” said comedian Kristina Wong.

Sanders will have to meet quite a few more AAPI leaders in the upcoming primaries, especially in states where there are large numbers of Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders. Gibbard will be a help in the Hawaii caucus on March 26 but AAPI voters could also be critical in Alaskan and Washington caucuses on that same day. The AAPI vote will also be influential in the April 19 New York primary and the California and New Jersey primaries on June 7.

That's assuming that Hillary Clinton hasn't wrapped up her nomination earlier. Clinton has  a head start in wooing the AAPI voters with the launch of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Hillary in January and then the creation of the AAPI Leadership Council a few days later.

After the all the votes were counted in the Illinois primary held last March 15, Clinton and Sanders ended up in a virtual tie with Clinton barely edging out Sanders. In the end, Clinton won 68 of electoral votes, Sanders won 67.

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

AAPI vote could be the margin of victory in Nevada

It is generally conceded that Hillary Clinton has had better outreach to the AAPI electorate. Above, Rep. Judy Chu introduces the candidate to a rally of Asian/American political activists last month. 

EVER WALK into a Nevada casino and notice the number of Asians working there? Waiters, cooks, servers, blackjack and poker dealers, security, maids, change makers, cab drivers - they are everywhere.

Filipinos are now the second largest minority group in Clark County where Las Vegas is located, behind Latinos. There are so many residents from Hawaii that they call the city The Ninth Island.

Asian/Americans comprise 6 percent of the U.S. population, and their numbers have increased 56 percent since 2000. In Nevada, Asian/Americans are 9 percent of the population.

“It’s a fast-growing population, it’s young, people are getting engaged,” said Shu-Yen Wei, who helps with Asian-American outreach for the Democratic National Committee. “That’s why people are interested.”

RELATED: Asian/Americans lean towards Democrats, Sanders

Asian/Americans comprise 6 percent of the U.S. population, and their numbers have increased 56 percent since 2000. In Nevada, AAPI are almost 10 percent of the state's population.

Since the closeness of the Democratic candidates is unexpectedly close, the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are scrambling for every vote. The AAPI vote could determine the outcome of the Feb. 20  Democratic caucus.

“Sanders is much more focused on the Latino community than the AAPI community”, said Emily Persaud, the Nevada state coordinator for the America Action campaign, a non-partisan group which campaigns for immigrants to take citizenship and then become involved in politics.

RELATED: AAPI PAC endorses Clinton

”This week Clinton activists announced a week of campaigning targeted at Asian Americans in Nevada, and the candidate has also received the endorsement of the Asian American political action committee CAPA21.

For many of Nevada's AAPI voters, this may be the first time to participate in a caucus. To help them, a coalition of AAPI organizations is holding a workshop on how the caucuses work. This training will give anyone intending to participate in either the Feb. 23 Republican or Feb. 20 Democratic caucuses hands-on, interactive practice to exercise your voice!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
6 p.m.-8 p.m.

6330 Spring Mountain Road

Suite A

Las Vegas, NV 89146

RSVP→ bit.ly/nvcaucus

For more news of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, go to AsAm News.

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Asian/Americans are hard to find in New Hampshire, one of the whitest states in the country

NEW HAMPSHIRE voters picked Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump as their preferences for the respective nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties.

There are not a helluva lot of Asian/American voters in New Hampshire. They represent only 2.7% of the electorate, far below the 6% they represent nationally. For that matter, there aren't many African/American, Latino/Americans or anyone of color.  They are all below the national average. In fact, New Hampshire is one of the whitest states in the country. 

Maine tops the nation with 96.9 percent of its population described as Euro/American, while 96.7 percent of Vermont (Bernie Sander's home state) and 96 percent of New Hampshire are descended from Europe, according to the census. All three were at least 98 percent white in the 1990 census.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: For this article "white" and "Euro/American" are interchangeable.)

If voters braved the predicted snow storm, they will be asked to show a form of identification. This is the first election voters have been asked for ID since the law was approved in 2011.

If they don't show an I.D., precinct workers will take a Polaroid picture of the voter to verify that he/she is who he/she says they are. They will be mailed an affidavit which they will sign and mail back to make their vote official - a process that could take as long as a month.

Studies about why some eligible voters fail to vote suggest that the overall inconvenience of voting—especially in states with increased legal barriers—factors heavily into why poorer, disproportionately black and Latino voters often fail to reach the polls.

So the picture-taking won't inconveniece a whole lot of people - just people who don't carry a government-issued I.D. around with them. A drivers' license or a U.S. Passport will do.

A student I.D. will work, too, unbeknownst to a lot of students. It seems the voter I.D. law was aimed at this particular group, who tend to vote liberal (i.e.. Democrat) and not toward racial minorities or immigrants as in other states. 

The new law may have unintended consequences, too, especially among the elderly, many of whom have given up on driving and no longer have drivers' licenses.

However, immigrants will be affected, especially since so many of them work in the service sector jobs. Employers will normally allow workers off for an hour to cast their ballot, but if long lines form because of the more complicated photo-taking process, a long wait could deter citizens from doing their public duty.Iowa was just as white - and just as rural. 

Immigration has not been a big issue in New Hampshire despite attempts by conservative news outlets to stoke anti-immigrant fears.

RELATED: GOP's new Southern strategy

The vast majority of minority voters are clustered around the urban centers. New Hampshire's largest city Manchester has only a population of about 110,000, about the size of an L.A. suburb. The entire state is about 1.3 million people, or about the same number of people living in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The issues that concern Asian/American voters and other minority voters - equal opportunities in jobs and education, for instance - have not been adequately addressed in these two highly scrutinized states.

Outside of the fear-mongering on the Republican side, a serious discussion of immigration has hardly been addressed by either party's candidates.

The problems that face cities and its residents - building more affordable housing, better transportation alternatives to the automobile, regional planning vs. local control, having good, equal education opportunities in a globally competitive world and down to simply fixing the potholes in our crumbling roadways - have scarcely been mentioned.

Nevertheless, the outcomes of two of the most white and rural states in the country --  because of the media attention they receive -- have a strong influence on the tone and course of the continuing conversation on who deserves to be the next President of the United States -- even though Iowa and New Hampshire don't begin to represent the real diversity of our nation anymore.

Now, Nevada and South Carolina, next on the primary schedules, are a different story. Stay tuned.

For more news about Asian/American &Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

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Clinton campaign forms AAPI leadership council

AAPI for Hillary photo

Some of the Hillary Clinton supporters who joined the candidate's rally in San Gabriel, Calif on Jan. 7

HILLARY FOR AMERICA announced today (Jan. 13) the launch of its Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Hillary Leadership Council – a group of over 150 elected officials, community and grassroots leaders who will help build a grassroots-driven volunteer team that will help Hillary Clinton engage, energize and organize support in the AAPI community ahead of the caucuses and primaries. 

"Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial demographic in the country, yet have too often been denied a seat at the table,” said Congresswoman and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Judy Chu. “With the launch of her National AAPI Leadership Council, Hillary Clinton is recognizing the importance of engaging with our community in a way that no other candidate has. Given her policy priorities and outreach, I am confident that AAPIs will have an unprecedented voice and ear in the Hillary Clinton White House."

RELATED: Clinton reaches out to the AAPI community

The council is a diverse lot, from U.S. Sen. Mazie K. Hirono to author Bill Wong to former Maj. General Tony Taguba They come across the country, from Hawaii to California and  Illinois to Connecticut.

These officials are taking on leadership roles on the heels of the launch of AAPI for Hillary in San Gabriel, Calif., last week where the Democratic candidate was greeted by leaders from the community and discussed what’s at stake for the AAPI community in this election. 

According to a press release, "Leadership Council members share Clinton’s commitment to raising wages for the middle class, strengthening our nation’s infrastructure to create good-paying jobs, defending and enhancing the Affordable Care Act, ensuring that cost is not a barrier for students going to college, reforming our broken immigration system and much more."

You can learn more about Clinton’s agenda here.

Michell Kwan/Twitter

Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan (center, front) joined the hundreds of AAPI Clinton
supporters in San Gabriel, Calif. last Jan. 7.

Although comparatively small - only 5 percent of voters - the AAPI electorate are part of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country and its voting rolls have exploded in recent years to the point where they could be the margin of victory in key battleground states and congressional districts.

"I am thrilled to join Hillary Clinton's National AAPI Leadership Council," said Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY). "Hillary has a great track record of fighting for Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and as President, she will do even more to protect and promote the AAPI community. I look forward to working with her to accomplish this."

RELATED: AAPI voters lean towards Democrats

“Hillary Clinton is a smart, conscientious, and an inspiring leader,” said former Ambassador Gary Locke. “She values diversity and has always been supportive of and sensitive to the needs of the AAPI community. She is everything we want in a President and she is the leader we need in these complex and troubling times."

“Hillary Clinton is the candidate we need. She has a proven track record of the compassion and strength needed to unite leaders across the country to solve the problems that affect all our communities,” said Shekar Narasimhan. “I am more than grateful to serve on the National AAPI Leadership Council of the most qualified candidate for the presidency.”

Click here for a complete list of the AAPI for Hillary Leadership Council. Over the course of the campaign, the AAPI Leadership Council will continue to expand, states the press release. 

RELATED: GOP makes a push for Asian American voters

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For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, go to AsAm News.

Clinton campaign kicks off the Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders for Hillary in California

Hillary Clinton's Campaign seeking Asian/American volunteers

THE CONTEST for the Democrat Party''s nomination for President is not going to be the cakewalk for Hillary Clinton as everyone thought six months ago. Although the former Secretary of State is still considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, the viability of Sen. Bernie Sanders is growing every day. The candidates will have to fight for every vote.

A recent poll concluding Asian/Americans leaning  towards Sanders, Clinton is having to shore up her support among this key constituency which will be playing key roles in the battleground states of Nevada, Virginia and Florida. 

Clinton will be returning to California for a two-day swing next week to officially launch "Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders for Hillary" and to attend a series of fundraisers in San Gabriel, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The event in San Gabriel, will be hosted by Monterey Park's Rep. Judy Chu, chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

“Asian Americans have gone from being marginalized to being the margin of victory,” said Chu.

The Thursday luncheon will be the first in a series designed to "engage, energize and organize AAPI voters," according to a statement by the campaign. A host of community and political AAPI leaders are expected to attend.

“Clinton will discuss what’s at stake in this election for the AAPI community, and how she’ll fight for them as president,” said Clinton's campaign press release.

Filipino/Americans from the San Francisco Bay Area will be making the trek by chartered bus to the San Gabriel event where they meet with Asian/Americans from throughout the West and be welcomed by Artesia Mayor Pro Tem Victor Manalo.

“I think we need to realize that in many instances, we all want the same things. We all want good educations, good jobs, and we want to be a part of the economic, social, political system in this country,” Manalo said.

(The round-trip “HillaryBus” fare to San Gabriel Valley from Daly City is $30. Interested HillaryBus riders can contact Rodel Rodis at 415-334-7800 or email him at Rodel50@aol.com.)

After the San Gabriel event. Clinton will move on to a “family celebration” reception Thursday afternoon at Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles, hosted by television and movie producer Lisa Henson and artist and animator David Pressler; tickets range from $500 to $2,700. 

The next day, the Democratic candidate is scheduled to attend a $2,700-per-person “Conversation with Hillary” event in San Francisco hosted by Diana Nelson, chairwoman of the Carlson global hospitality and travel company, and then a $2,700-per-person evening reception in Palo Alto hosted by venture capitalist Greg Sands and his wife, Sarah.

Yesterday (Jan. 3), in a statement responding to Donald Trump attacks against her husband, Clinton campaign spokeswoman Christina Reynolds said "Hillary Clinton won't be bullied or distracted by attacks he throws at her and former President Clinton."

But, Reynolds added, "When his insults are directed at women, immigrants, Asian-Americans, Muslims, the disabled, or hard working Americans looking to raise their wages, Hillary Clinton will stand up to him, as she has from the beginning. Donald Trump's words are demeaning, his policies are just as destructive. Hillary Clinton will challenge Donald Trump and all the other Republicans who will rip away the progress we've made."

A roster of recent AAPI hires to the Clinton campaign, including Vice Chair Huma Abedin, Senior Policy Adviser Maya Harris, Finance Director Dennis Cheng, AAPI Outreach Director Lisa Changadveja, Surrogate Outreach Coordinator Michelle Kwan, Director of Women's Outreach Mini Timmaraju, Northeast Political Director Lyle Canceko, and Director of Delegate Operations David Huynh.

• Members of the public who wish to attend the AAPI for Hillary Organizing Event in San Gabriel can RSVP here. 
• AAPI for Hillary Organizing EventDATE: Thursday, January 7th, 2016DOORS OPEN: 10:15 AM PSTEVENT START TIME: 11:45 AM PST. WHERE: Hilton San Gabriel, 225 W. Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, California, 91776 
• This event is free and open to the public.For more information, please email AAPIOutreach@HillaryClinton.com.

For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News. 

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No surprise, Asian Americans leaning towards Democrats, Sanders

Immigration is a top concern for Asian/Americans.

AMONG the so-called political experts, its was widely believed that Asian/Americans would be an easy demographic for Republicans because of their orientation towards family and entrepreneurship. As it turns out, that image is a couple of decades old and no longer holds true -- if it ever did.

That belief has apparently shifted according to a new Gallup Poll that shows Asian/Americans moving into the more progressive camp and preferring social democrat
platform of Sen. Bernie Sanders over the more traditional Democrat, Hillary Clinton.

Sanders enjoys the highest level of popularity for any major candidate of either party among Asian/Americans, with his favorable score exceeding his unfavorable score by 29 percentage points with this group. His competitor for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, is not far behind, with a net favorable score of +21.

Both Democratic contenders score better than any of the Republican candidates, especially for Donald Trump, whose favorability among Asian/Americans is a minus 43 points.

One reason Asian/Americans may prefer Sanders over Clinton, and indeed all other presidential candidates with this group, is the comparatively liberal lean of Asian/Americans. Over a third of Asian/Americans (35%) classify their ideology as liberal, much higher than the level of Euro/Americans (22%), African/Americans (26%) and Latinos (26%).

While this trend may not mean a whole lot for 2016 because Asian/Americans are only 5 percent of the voters, if the growth trend continues, it could have greater significance in the future since Asians make up the fastest-growing racial group in the country. In some jurisdictions with a large Asian/American community, their impact will be felt immediately, especially if they feel that their needs and issues are not being addressed.

RELATED: GOP makes a push for Asian American voters1965 refries changed the face of AmericaNew strategy targets immigrantsFrom Latinos to anchor babies

Through recent presidential election cycles, Republicans have successfully defined the political dialogue. Simplistically put, that meant family values, strong faith in God, patriotism, anti-choice, fiscal responsibility, small government were conservative values. We might as well through in mom and apple pie in there. A lot of conservatives were happy with this description.

But real life is not always so easily defined.

In 2008 and 2012, voters of color who overwhelmingly voted for Obama. GOP strategists felt that to have any real chance to win the presidency, they had to take away some of those votes from the Democrats. 

At the start of the current presidential campaign in 2014 and as late as early this year, Republicans believed they could woo enough Asian/American voters into their camp.

Since 1965 when immigration laws were  reformed so that Europeans didn't receive favored treatment, immigration from Latin America and Asia increased dramatically creating a sense of unease in the traditional - mostly Euro/American - conservative camp that they were losing control of "their" America.

Immigration is perhaps the one issue that unites the vast majority of Asian Americans. What has happened as a result of the 1965  immigration reforms is that first-generation immigrant Asian/Amerians now outnumber American-born Asian/Americans.

In addition, most of us are still closely connected to our immigrant roots no matter how many generations we may have been here because, more than likely, we are related to a first-generation immigrant.

So if you attack immigrants or espouse stricter immigration laws, what you are saying to Asian/Americans is that our families are not important and to Asian/Americans, family is of the utmost importance. Therefore, if you attack immigrants, you attack our relatives, our families.

And that's where the Republican party has missed the boat. Not only have they missed the boat, they are trying to sink it.

Donald Trump, the most reviled of all candidates in the eyes of many Asian-Americans. Trump has been outspoken on the issue of immigration throughout his campaign, vowing not only to end all illegal immigration (most notably with his pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border), but also to limit the level of legal immigration into the U.S. Given that around three-fourths of Asian-Americans are themselves immigrants, Trump's xenophobic rhetoric has almost certainly offended a large segment of this group.

The new Asian/American gothic

Just two decades ago, Asian-Americans were more apt to back GOP candidates -- in 1992, Republican President George H.W. Bush garnered 55% of the Asian/American vote as he unsuccessfully vied for re-election, according to exit poll data. But Asian/Americans have since abandoned the Republicans and now self-identify as Democratic (or as independents who lean Democratic) at a rate that far exceeds the portion of Asian/Americans who identify as or lean Republican.

With racist Donald Trump leading the way, GOP candidates for president have tripped over themselves trying to out-Trump Trump by voting against DACA, speaking against Obama's immigration reforms, proposing construction of a "wall"  across our southern borders and now, asking for stricter screening of refugees (beyond the 2-year process already in place) and Trump's latest proposal, an outright ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.

If you attack immigration reform, try to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment among the "conservatives," call the immigrants rapists, drug dealers, gang members, murderers and try to associate them with "anchor babies,"  curtail family reunification laws, threaten some with deportation separating children from their parents, you are essentially attacking our families, our cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

It's no wonder the family-oriented Asian/Americans are not buying the anti-immigrant rhetoric spewing forth from the Republican candidates. In the Asian/American view, family trumps all other issues.

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GOP makes a push for Asian/American voters

BELIEVE IT or not, the Republican Party is making an effort to woo Asian/American voters, who in the last two presidential elections have moved more into the Democratic camp.

The GOP hopes that they will be able to sway enough AAPI voters to weaken the impact the small but politically and financially potent influence that Asian/Americans have in key states and races. 

This past summer, the RNC launched the Republican Leadership Initiative, which hopes to recruit “Asian Pacific American grassroots leadership.”

The release of this commercial "It's Our Time," is part of that outreach.

Nothing groundbreaking or innovative, but at least the attempt is there.

"There was a time when Asian Americans seemed reliably pro-Republican. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush got 55 percent of the Asian American vote. Bob Dole also won more of the AAPI vote — 48 percent to Bill Clinton’s 43 percent," wrote Bobby Calvan for Al Jazeera in a three-part series about Asian/American & Pacific Islander voters.

Republicans pin their hopes on the fact that nearly half of Asian/American voters claim to be "independent," according to a Pew study.

The GOP believes that the AAPI vote still can be persuaded to vote GOP.  "In the 2014 midterm elections, some exit polls suggested that Asian Americans were about evenly split between Democratic and Republican candidates — a dramatic turn from the 2012 presidential election, when 73 percent of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) aligned with the Democrats," read the Al Jazeera article.

RELATED: 3-part series on Asian/American electorate by Al Jazeera

• Democrats, Republicans slow to woo the Asian voter
• Asian Americans lag in voter registration
• Seeking campaign case from the Asian boom

It remains to be seen if the party's new message can overcome what's coming out of the mouths of the GOP's presidential candidates. 

There are a number of factors why AAPI have shifted to the Democratic camp in the last eight years. One is President Obama himself, who spent most of his childhood among Asians in Hawaii and Indonesia. 

There is also a fear that the influence of the Christian right on the GOP raises questions about the Republican party's assertion of openness among Asians, the majority of whom are non-Christians.

The biggest obstacle for the GOP efforts is its stance on immigration. Most Asian/Americans, no matter how long they have lived in the U.S., favor a more liberal immigration policy including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.


The "anchor baby" controversy has set back any efforts of wooing the Asian/American electorate, the fastest growing immigrant groups. In 2012, immigration from Asian countries surpassed immigration from Latin America. The statements and wild anti-immigrant statements the GOP presidential candidates constitute a strong push factor in making AAPI voters swing more towards the Democrats.

What the GOP doesn't understand is that if they take a stand against immigrants and you take a stand against family.

It does not help the Republican party’s attempts to dispel that unfavorable notion when most of the “Asians” in its newly formed “Asian Republican Coalition” turns out to be white businessmen in Hong Kong,

“We have a very broad definition of what constitutes the Asian American community," says white businessman Thomas Britt, the vice chairman of ARC and a former Asia Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

 "The Asian Republican Coalition is open to all Americans, including Asian Americans and those of us like me who are not ethnically Asian but have spent twenty years living in Hong Kong.” That might appeal to some Asians, but certainly not to the admittedly small group of  Asian/Americans that with whom I interact, most of whom strongly resent anything that might even hint at a colonial relationship.

"Is this a joke?" asks Frank Chi, a Democratic media consultant, when told how Britt defined  Asian American. "If not, then this is a fundamental misreading of politics in a multicultural America."

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