Asian Americans help Clinton, McCain win

February 6, 2008

Clinton took 75 percent of the Asian American vote and McCain got 66 percent, according to MSNBC's exit poll, in California, the biggest prize in Tuesday's primaries.

There seemed to be a deep split on the Democratic side before Tuesday, with the 80-20 Initiative endorsing Clinton and a strong push for Asian Americans by the Obama campaign.

I don't know how much weight 80-20 holds, but the results seem to show Clinton as the favorite. California is the one of the biggest, if not the biggest bloc of Asian American voters. It could be older voters outnumbered the younger demographic of Obama's support.

There didn't seem to be much buzz on the Republican side before the vote, at least not that I heard. Any Republicans out there? What's your take?

Contributor: 

Harry Mok

Editor in chief

Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.

Comments

Comments

HarryGood article, its not just Asians, its the whole world, even though im a Blasian, the world see me as Black. Like Tiger Woods, your Asian when you become famous. My Grandparents wrote my mother off when she married my father. Things got a little better with time. So im aware of the prejiduces with the older generation. Like Obama said, out with the old and in with the new. He represents the future and its up to the young voters of all races to change the mental landscape of America and stand up for change. Correct me if im wrong, but in the state of Washington did Obama do better with the Asian voters?
My grandma's support went to Clinton, although she didn't vote for anyone. She said Obama was too inexperienced. I agreed and wouldn't have voted for Obama had it not been for his pre-war opposition to the war. Without that single issue, I don't see how Obama deserves the Presidency at all. He's inexperienced, his health care plan is far less robust than Clinton's, and his speeches are empty rhetoric. "Let's bring Americans together.. by being nice to each other more often!" OK....As for the accusation that Asian Americans and Latinos are more racist towards blacks.. that makes perfect sense to me.66% of all Asian Americans are foreign born, so most Asians are not going to have favorable opinions of black people because they did not grow up with the "racial harmony" propaganda that American-born people grew up with. There are thousands of hours of media programming that preach tolerance for blacks. None of which are required viewing for citizenship.It's especially difficult to convince a person (who hasn't been bombarded with racial harmony propaganda throughout their formative years) that black men, as a whole, are good. The crime rates amongst black men are freakishly high. 75% of black men in Washington, DC, for example are criminals or have criminal backgrounds, according to my Criminal Justice class here in San Francisco State. Black males make up half the prison population of the nation, despite only being 6% of the population. These are the things that people get a hint of. Not the "Oh, black people are mostly good," stuff you hear on TV, where every TV show has a token black man in some highly respected role.Furthermore, black males are perceived as people who "take up space", for lack of a better phrase. While millions of Asians and Latinos desperately try to enter America and get a job, millions of black men squander away in prisons or ghettos. While thousands of immigrants are threatened with deportation for simply WORKING A JOB, many black men don't work and are still seen as more "American" than those immigrants. All of this strikes the immigrant Asian or Latino as a gross hypocrisy and injustice. And the "black men are discriminated against too much for them to succeed" argument has run its course decades ago.
SAI GIT, you stats are a little off, but some are arguable. There are 45 million blacks in America, so thats more than 6 percent of the population, by a little more than half that. So I cant support you argument because I see you are blowing smoke out your but. To be honost Hillary and Obama sound almost exactly identical. But Obama is just a lot more liberal.Obviuosly you not listening to the debates. Experience, so where has an experience politican taken us? No where.My father is black, a college grad and so are all my black Uncles. So this is just your perception, not facts.SAI GIT. stop the hate and your jeliousy shows.
Kelly Hu and Obamas Asian sister on the campaign trail to endorse Obamahttp://goldsea.com/802/16obama.htmlhttp://goldsea.com/802/15maya.html
FYI... the exit polling of Asian Americans was done only in LA and with a sampling of just 126 voters. Hardly authoritative. I'm not surprised thought that AAPI voters lean Clinton--like Colgate and Kleenex, it's the more established brand name. But as AAPI voters get to know Barack, I think they will embrace him too as I have seen in experience with my own Filipino American community.That said, Obama's campaign has definitely been ramping up his courting of Asian American voters. His brother-in-law Konrad Ng is now blogging on the my barack obama site, his sister Maya was actively campaigning for him in their home state, and the campaign has posted videos on Barack TV of AAPI supporters. Obama released a Lunar New Year letter and a statement on the Day of Remembrance to commemorate Japanese Internment.
Barrack won Hawaii with 70 percent of the vote. What were the exite polls and how did Asians vote?
hell with obama.. he is the anti christ.. and I am a liberal...
I'm still waiting for the explanation to the "GOOK" comments that McCain made! Why is that ok? Are we so apathetic that even obvious racist remarks don't matter to us anymore?!What's really pathetic is that there are people out there who believe that because McCain was tortured by these so-called "Gooks" that it's ok for him to use racist slurs. GIve him a free pass! Guess some of the AA voting community feel the same way, well then Hurrah to us, we suck!!
yeah i am still waiting for an explanation for that as well. asian americans that i've spoken to tell me "well you can't really blame him"... but i'd like to think otherwise.
It just came to light that Hillary is just as in-expereinced as Barrack as a politician. Why is she inlcuding her years as the first lady? Last time I heard, first lady is not an elected position
Why? Obama is an honorary AAPI! He lived in Hawaii and Indonesia! He has a HAPA sister. I think AAPI should support Obama.
how did mccain get 66% of the Asian American vote? no one remembers the "gook" comment?i voted for obama and am surprised more As. Americans didn't. but i suppose he could've done more to reach out to our voting bloc.
Jeff Chang wrote an interesting analysis on Huffington Post:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-chang/why-latinos-and-asian-ame_b_85359.html
Keith;Great article and im tired of the Clinton and Bush dynasty. There has been a Bush or a Clinton in the Executive Branch for the last 27 years.Its time for a change. Clinton is part of the old boy system, we need new leadership in the White House. Out with the old and in with the new
The 80-20 initiative endorsement is ONLY in California. 80-20 didn't endorse either Clinton or Obama in other states. The endorsement in California came about due to Obama's delayed response to the questionnaire that 80-20 asked of all the candidates. Clinton, Edwards and Richardson responded positively to this questionnaire in time but Obama didn't.However, before the California primary, the Obama camp responded positively to said questionnaire which resulted in 80-20 restating its support behind Obama, as well as Clinton. However, at that time, 80-20 has already endorsed Clinton in California and couldn't retract said endorsement, according to 80-20.for more details check out 80-20's websitehttp://80-20initiative.blogspot.com/2008/02/reaction-to-good-news-from-obama.html
The facts: Obama is, plainly speaking just unpopular and unimpressive to Asians and Latinos. His resume outside of his Senate win is nothing to be excited about. Many Latinos and Asians have done much more than that. And giving a decent speech in his preacher like oratory fails to make him special. There are thousands great speakers in America. On the same token his debate skills as one of my latino friends recently said are "unimpressive and novice." While Hillary is considered to be true friend to our communities. Nominating Obama may swing these voting groups more to Republicans in the general election. Obama talks about no red or blue states, but nominating him will certainly convert some blue states to red. I guarantee he loses every swing state with large latino populations and losing large portions of the Asian vote if not all to a McCain. These are just the facts. If Democrats want any chance of winning in November they need to be more realistic and support Hillary. If not, more blue states will become red. I admire Hillary but support no one yet, but I will say that she is only one that can pick up the swing states due to her Latino and Asian backing. Democrats will be massacred with Obama as a nominee. I want to see change but only Hillary has a chance of beating McCain. Otherwise Florida, Ohio, Arizona, and maybe many more states go to McCain. These are real facts.
Can Hillary stand on her own two feet without Bill? I think Obama is the most impressive speaker out there and represent the future. Hillary is part of the past and is the ultimate politician. She does not represent change. If Obama is so unimpressive how does he win states like Idaho and North Dakota. How can Hillary be a part of change when she is part of the existing system.The facts are listed in Jeff Changs article on Keiths Kamasuichi post.I WANT TO SEE HOW ASIANS IN HIS HOME STATE OF HAWAII VOTE.
Here's a story about "overlooked" Asian American voters in The Hill.
Here's Salon.com's blog entry on Clinton as the Asian American choice.
Good articles Harry, I live in Washington and here Hillary has the edge. The Clintons have been in the political arena for years and have allies ranging from African Americans to Asians. Im going to the Washington Caucus to caucus. I think Obamas true test on the Asian vote will be Hawaii, that will answer alot of these questions. Obama is the underdog, but you have to give him credit for the strides he has made. If he wins this thing, wow. Im curious to know who the young Voters in the Asian community is voting for
Well, I agree with Anonymous, more or less. If Obama gets the nomination, we're handing an election that, with all the discontent towards Republicans in this country, should be a guaranteed win for Democrats right over to Republicans AGAIN. Worse than a Bush/Clinton dynasty is any kind of Republican run. To me, no candidate represents the future. Obama has gotten into this election and has gotten down and dirty just like every typical politician does. He's really no different or better, and, let's face it, the only reason so many people think he is, more than his message, is because he's black.Speaking of that, you've got to realize that Obama is not trying to be the first Asian President--some Asians need to quit trying to turn this into that just because he was born in Hawai'i (which is why he'll win Hawai'i) and has a part-Asian sister. He can barely even open his mouth to support blacks because he's so busy pandering to whites; he's surely not going to do jackcrap for Asians. He only responded to the 80-20 after Asians had something to say about his not responding; that ought to tell you something.Finally, the fact that Hillary can't win without Bill says less about her and more about the nation. At this point, there is no other woman who could have anywhere near the shot she has, save maybe Oprah who is just about the female equivalent to Obama (i.e. white-washed black CELEBRITY)--think about that.
I'm supporting Obama because he represents change. His platform is also more pro-immigrant and his rhetoric on immigration is that of someone who understands the unique and often unfortunate situation of immigrants in the United States. Not only is Clinton glib on the drivers license issue, but she glosses over immigration as an issue in general and doesn't take it as seriously as she does health care or the mortgage crisis. That's fine, but it shows where her priorities are. Obama has a much deeper view on immigration and that should matter to Asian voters. Otherwise, Clinton and Obama are not too far apart on a lot of policy issues. There is a big generational divide on how Clinton and Obama are perceived: Clinton as old guard and Obama as the new. I'm an Obama supporter (for substantive policy reasons, not symbolic ones) and so are most young As Ams that I know. My mother would throw herself in front of a bus for Hillary and her view is almost entirely based on wanting a woman in the White House.To touch briefly on the over-simplistic race-gender dichotomy that many are drawing on in this campaign, I will admit that it's more important to me to build coalitions with other people of color, rather than with other women. I am a feminist of the highest order, but the mainstream feminist movement has often been criticized for its disproportionate focus on the needs of white, middle-class women, as opposed to those of women who are poor or of color, or both.As to electability, the Republican field has been so unpalatable and divided that I believe either Clinton or Obama could beat McCain. However, I think Obama is the stronger candidate who will stand up for the underrepresented in America.
I agree, I saw the debate on immigration and Hillary said she was opposed to giving undocumented workers drivers license. Obama countered by saying, "immigrants dont come here to drive, they come here to work.I dont think people are listening to the issues, they are just following the pack
SYLVIE:You said i your earlier post Obama didnt reach out to the Asian community. Thats not exactly truehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW_AXO8wCj0http://www.asianam.org/obama_on_asian_american_issues.htm
ANONYMOUS:actually, i said "i suppose he could've done more to reach out to our voting bloc." i wasn't implying that he didn't reach out to As Ams at all.in terms of high profile outreach, i've personally only read of his interactions with black and latino communities. but that's probably more indicative of U.S. media than of the Obama campaign.
The New Republic tries to explain why Asian Americans voted so overwhelmingly for Clinton in this story. One theory: Asian American prejudice.University of California, Berkeley political scientist Taeku Lee is quoted as saying, "Many Asian Americans have very deeply rooted and stereotypical reviews of African-Americans. [Blacks] will face a higher degree of scrutiny."