Why don't Asians vote Republican?

[krazen1211]

For the Same Reason Boston suburbs vote Democrat despite being middle-and-upper class WASPs/Catholics.  They're more Liberal than their demographic trends suggest.

In fact, if you Look at Indian-Americans, they should be strongly Republican.  They're primarily middle-class or small buisness owners, they're deeply religious, and are fairly well integrated into American society.  But they don't . . . because they're Liberal.

Hmm, I never thought of them as particularly liberal (at least not in NJ) on policy. On issues like universal health care, taxation, gays, abortion, and a whole host of others, I never found your average 40s-50s Indian person to be liberal on anything.

Might be different in California.

[Dgov]

For the Same Reason Boston suburbs vote Democrat despite being middle-and-upper class WASPs/Catholics.  They're more Liberal than their demographic trends suggest.

In fact, if you Look at Indian-Americans, they should be strongly Republican.  They're primarily middle-class or small buisness owners, they're deeply religious, and are fairly well integrated into American society.  But they don't . . . because they're Liberal.

Hmm, I never thought of them as particularly liberal (at least not in NJ) on policy. On issues like universal health care, taxation, gays, abortion, and a whole host of others, I never found your average 40s-50s Indian person to be liberal on anything.

Might be different in California.

Sorry, by "More Liberal than their demographic trends suggest" I mean "Don't vote Republican even though demographically they should".  They tend to vote like Moderates as an overall group--lean democrat in almost all races, but with a fairly strong Republican minority.

Though they are far more Liberal in California (at least in the bay area).  Where i am (West bay outside of San Fran) I think they actually vote more Democratic than the Hispanics do (who are also far more Liberal here than in the rest of the country).

[Chaddyr23]

Usually I never post on here, but as an Asian American the main trend is that the Repubs have become a more insular party that comes of as not as friendly to immigration of any shape or form although this isn't necessarily true. It is what it is. Simply feel that the Dems are a more diverse party. Also, most Asians are nucleated in more liberal cities so they are skewed left for that reason as well. Bush 41 won Asians and Dole barely did but the Reps moved too far right since then socially to compete with the Dems for the demographic.

[krazen1211]

Sorry, by "More Liberal than their demographic trends suggest" I mean "Don't vote Republican even though demographically they should".  They tend to vote like Moderates as an overall group--lean democrat in almost all races, but with a fairly strong Republican minority.

Though they are far more Liberal in California (at least in the bay area).  Where i am (West bay outside of San Fran) I think they actually vote more Democratic than the Hispanics do (who are also far more Liberal here than in the rest of the country).

That I agree with. It's a demographic that, as everyone has hinted, Republicans should do better in than they do.

Chris Christie, for instance, did very well in many Asian dominated towns in NJ, and won Middlesex County.

[Sbane]

Sorry, by "More Liberal than their demographic trends suggest" I mean "Don't vote Republican even though demographically they should".  They tend to vote like Moderates as an overall group--lean democrat in almost all races, but with a fairly strong Republican minority.

Though they are far more Liberal in California (at least in the bay area).  Where i am (West bay outside of San Fran) I think they actually vote more Democratic than the Hispanics do (who are also far more Liberal here than in the rest of the country).

That I agree with. It's a demographic that, as everyone has hinted, Republicans should do better in than they do.

Chris Christie, for instance, did very well in many Asian dominated towns in NJ, and won Middlesex County.

Not surprising that a candidate who doesn't give lip service to the religious right, and focuses almost exclusively on the fiscal issues of the state, might do well with Asian Indians. Meg Whitman also seemed to do better among Indians in the bay area than other Republican candidates. Of course the fact that these were state races also matters.

As for Asian Indian voting habits as a whole, it will vary according to their environment. Indians in the Bay Area certainly vote almost 7-2, if not more in favor of Democrats. In suburban Dallas and Houston, I bet it's much, much closer. Maybe 60-40 Dem at the most, and even that would be for a candidate like Obama. On the whole though, Indians are never going to feel comfortable voting for the Christian party. So don't be surprised if Indians basically vote like Jews. 

[phk]

For most Indian groups there is likely a correaltion between time in America and GOP friendliness.

[feeblepizza]

I would expect Asians to vote Republican because all of the Asian wars have been fought by Democrats.

[Stranger in a strange land]

I would expect Asians to vote Republican because all of the Asian wars have been fought by Democrats.

*facepalm*

World War II and Korea may have happened under Democratic Presidents, but in both cases the U.S. or its allies were attacked and they were fought in response to aggression. LBJ started the Vietnam War, and even though nobody wants to talk about it now, Vietnam initially had wide support from both Democrats and Republicans. The number of U.S. troops in Vietnam actually peaked during the Nixon administration, and Nixon also escalated the war by bombing Cambodia, which led to the most intense anti-war protests of the entire period.

Vietnamese Americans are rabidly anti-Communist; at least the first generation were, and this partly explains why they were so Republican for so long. More recent arrivals and those born here after the war are considerably more liberal.

[feeblepizza]

At their starts, all wars have wide support from both Democrats and Republicans. And during Nixon's administration, the number of troops in Vietnam decreased from 500,000 to 5,000. But nobody wants to talk about that

[Lief 🗽]

Why would Asians vote for the white nativist party?

[Sbane]

For most Indian groups there is likely a correaltion between time in America and GOP friendliness.

Perhaps. Shouldn't downplay how bad candidates like Bush (representing fundamentalist Christianity) play with Indians though. But maybe not in Fresno, I dunno.

[phk]

For most Indian groups there is likely a correaltion between time in America and GOP friendliness.

Perhaps. Shouldn't downplay how bad candidates like Bush (representing fundamentalist Christianity) play with Indians though. But maybe not in Fresno, I dunno.

Thing is that the Central Valley's Indian community largely consists of Sikhs in agriculture that now have a century's standing in the Americas. Which is unique amongst Indian groups whose big wave started in the 1990s.

I'm not sure it has much to do with Christianity per se. For example, Bush was the fundamentalist Christian candidate in 2000 and he likely carried the Muslim South Asian vote easily (Gore running behind Bush and Nader is realistic for obvious reasons).Of course Gore could have ran more on Kosovo/Bosnia more and didn't [reasons why Gore basically fought Bush to a draw could write a book].

Bush likely did decently with the rest of the groups too (45% could be realistic). But that was a different time so... The rare moment when Muslim South Asians being more GOP than the rest.

Of course to achieve the 2004 result (massive Muslim swing and a lesser Hindu/Sikh swing) means that 9/11 fundamentally changed fundamentalist Christianity in a way that made it less amenable to other religious groups excluding Orthodox Jewry (who really had the mirror flip of Muslims). This is really a good topic of study on its own.

[auburntiger]

Usually I never post on here, but as an Asian American the main trend is that the Repubs have become a more insular party that comes of as not as friendly to immigration of any shape or form although this isn't necessarily true. It is what it is. Simply feel that the Dems are a more diverse party. Also, most Asians are nucleated in more liberal cities so they are skewed left for that reason as well. Bush 41 won Asians and Dole barely did but the Reps moved too far right since then socially to compete with the Dems for the demographic.

^^^This. I'm also Asian-American, and this has finally occurred to me. I was raised Republican, but I'm now an Independent. What part of Florida do you live in?

[Sbane]

For most Indian groups there is likely a correaltion between time in America and GOP friendliness.

Perhaps. Shouldn't downplay how bad candidates like Bush (representing fundamentalist Christianity) play with Indians though. But maybe not in Fresno, I dunno.

Thing is that the Central Valley's Indian community largely consists of Sikhs in agriculture that now have a century's standing in the Americas. Which is unique amongst Indian groups whose big wave started in the 1990s.

I'm not sure it has much to do with Christianity per se. For example, Bush was the fundamentalist Christian candidate in 2000 and he likely carried the Muslim South Asian vote easily (Gore running behind Bush and Nader is realistic for obvious reasons).Of course Gore could have ran more on Kosovo/Bosnia more and didn't [reasons why Gore basically fought Bush to a draw could write a book].

Bush likely did decently with the rest of the groups too (45% could be realistic). But that was a different time so... The rare moment when Muslim South Asians being more GOP than the rest.

Of course to achieve the 2004 result (massive Muslim swing and a lesser Hindu/Sikh swing) means that 9/11 fundamentally changed fundamentalist Christianity in a way that made it less amenable to other religious groups excluding Orthodox Jewry (who really had the mirror flip of Muslims). This is really a good topic of study on its own.

I am quite interested in how the Punjabis in the central valley vote. Hard to figure out though. They seem and act like a Republican group of course.

Interestingly enough, I wouldn't be surprised if Indians who actually are surrounded by fundamentalist Christians, whether it be in the Central Valley or Texas, are going to react against it less. Sitting here in the Bay Area or the NYC area, that culture is going to seem foreign and one that can seem as attacking non-Christians (and verbally many do).

[krazen1211]

For most Indian groups there is likely a correaltion between time in America and GOP friendliness.

That's mostly because their income goes up.


SBane has it right when he talks about the Christian Party, but in New Jersey, it was heavily aided by the fact that the McGreevey/Corzine/NJEA tax policy is extremely punishing and punitive to the $75k - $200k class of voters.

[Chaddyr23]

Usually I never post on here, but as an Asian American the main trend is that the Repubs have become a more insular party that comes of as not as friendly to immigration of any shape or form although this isn't necessarily true. It is what it is. Simply feel that the Dems are a more diverse party. Also, most Asians are nucleated in more liberal cities so they are skewed left for that reason as well. Bush 41 won Asians and Dole barely did but the Reps moved too far right since then socially to compete with the Dems for the demographic.

^^^This. I'm also Asian-American, and this has finally occurred to me. I was raised Republican, but I'm now an Independent. What part of Florida do you live in?

I'm from South Florida but Im attending College in Gville.

[phk]

For most Indian groups there is likely a correaltion between time in America and GOP friendliness.

Perhaps. Shouldn't downplay how bad candidates like Bush (representing fundamentalist Christianity) play with Indians though. But maybe not in Fresno, I dunno.

Thing is that the Central Valley's Indian community largely consists of Sikhs in agriculture that now have a century's standing in the Americas. Which is unique amongst Indian groups whose big wave started in the 1990s.

I'm not sure it has much to do with Christianity per se. For example, Bush was the fundamentalist Christian candidate in 2000 and he likely carried the Muslim South Asian vote easily (Gore running behind Bush and Nader is realistic for obvious reasons).Of course Gore could have ran more on Kosovo/Bosnia more and didn't [reasons why Gore basically fought Bush to a draw could write a book].

Bush likely did decently with the rest of the groups too (45% could be realistic). But that was a different time so... The rare moment when Muslim South Asians being more GOP than the rest.

Of course to achieve the 2004 result (massive Muslim swing and a lesser Hindu/Sikh swing) means that 9/11 fundamentally changed fundamentalist Christianity in a way that made it less amenable to other religious groups excluding Orthodox Jewry (who really had the mirror flip of Muslims). This is really a good topic of study on its own.

I am quite interested in how the Punjabis in the central valley vote. Hard to figure out though. They seem and act like a Republican group of course.

Interestingly enough, I wouldn't be surprised if Indians who actually are surrounded by fundamentalist Christians, whether it be in the Central Valley or Texas, are going to react against it less. Sitting here in the Bay Area or the NYC area, that culture is going to seem foreign and one that can seem as attacking non-Christians (and verbally many do).

It could probably be your line of work too.

A lot of the non-agricultural Indians in the Central Valley are doctors for example and are exposed to patients of varying backgrounds.

___________________________________________________________________________
Btw, this could be a leap of faith here on my part but I recently put some thought into it. Let me know what you think.

A few factors are at play here:

1) Southerners excluding Goan Catholics (who'd be overshadowed by Telegus and Tamils anyway) would be a more natural D constituency.
2) Gujaratis and Punjabis are naturally not really left-leaning to begin with even in Indian politics and could see more GOP friendliness through that. They had a good showing as a % of the South Asian community before the Southern wave.

Leading up to...

3) The tech bubble in the late 1990s and into 2000 increasing the proportion of Southerners in the US Indian community.

More down the line, I take back my idea of more time in the US leading less D loyalty but more that Indians as apart of assimilation probably mimic the area around them.

Of course this assumes that more recent Indians are heading to D-dominated areas to begin with than earlier rounds of Indians. I'm not sure if this is true or not.

This reminds me of a phenomenon in Seattle, where we can have odd situations where people vote against a bill to raise taxes on the wealthy as well as having a D+10 victory at the same time.

So it could be the case that where even if Indians are conservative on certain issues they can simply take it out on various ballot measures and than comfortably vote D at the top.

[phk]

I'm not sure if you've noticed this but there's more well-known Indian Republicans than Indian Democrats, even though the community is mostly D (at least now).

Republicans
Dinesh D'Souza - Writer
Ramesh Ponnuru - NRO
Reihan Salam - NRO*
Razib Khan - Discover*
Raj Bhakta - Contestant on The Apprentice, Ran for Congress, I think Phil and Flyers seat.
Bobby Jindal - Governor of Louisiana
Nikki Haley - Governor of South Carolina

Democrats
Sonal Shah - Some Obama Appointee
Aneesh Chopra - Some Obama Appointee
Huma Abedin - Hillary's Assistant
Eboo Patel - Some Obama Appointee**

Have no Idea
Fareed Zakaria (He comes off as a Liberal Hawk so...)

*Bangladeshi
**I'm assuming he's a Democrat, not sure.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

And feeblepizza's and i's governor Mitchell Elias Daniels. Who is Syrian

[Sbane]

Why would southern Indians be more D friendly? If they are then it's mostly because of the sorts of professions they are in. That is another factor to keep in mind. A guy who runs his own motel or owns his own farm might have a different view of government interfering with business than some guy who might make a comfortable salary but is just a faceless guy working for some big company.

 Theoretically you would think with the Republican party's turn towards anti-Islamic rhetoric that they would attract a lot of Gujarati and non-muslim Punjabi support. I don't know if it would work that well in practice though. I mean imagine some guy showing up in a Sikh turban to an anti-Islamic rally lol. Of course Gujaratis are also very business friendly, which should attract them to the GOP as well.

As for ballot issues, I definitely think Indians can get their conservativeness out of the way that way. Vote against all propositions that raise taxes and then vote straight D.

Also another thing we are missing is that a lot of Indians who came to America had their first exposure to America in an University setting. That is another factor to consider.

[Хahar 🤔]

In fact, if you Look at Indian-Americans, they should be strongly Republican.  They're primarily middle-class or small buisness owners, they're deeply religious, and are fairly well integrated into American society.  But they don't . . . because they're Liberal.

I've never met a Hindu who could be described as "deeply religious". At most they're mildly religious, and that's in the first generation only.

[phk]

In fact, if you Look at Indian-Americans, they should be strongly Republican.  They're primarily middle-class or small buisness owners, they're deeply religious, and are fairly well integrated into American society.  But they don't . . . because they're Liberal.

I've never met a Hindu who could be described as "deeply religious". At most they're mildly religious, and that's in the first generation only.

Only deeply religous Hindu I have met was a Rajasthani  Brahmin, I'm sure there's more but not many.

[phk]

Why would southern Indians be more D friendly? If they are then it's mostly because of the sorts of professions they are in. That is another factor to keep in mind. A guy who runs his own motel or owns his own farm might have a different view of government interfering with business than some guy who might make a comfortable salary but is just a faceless guy working for some big company.

They are more employed in technology which is at least for now a more D friendly occupation. Technology has taken off in more liberal areas to begin with. The only real aberration is biotechnology in Southern Cali. At least in comparison to energy, agriculture, lodging, medicine, etc.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I could see anti-Islamic rhetoric working with Hindus if there were widespread tensions between Muslims and Hindus/Sikhs. This is true of the UK but not so much in the US. Any tensions are usually just isolated incidents.

65% of US Muslims aren't South Asian to begin with and thus have no substantive opinion of Hindus.This means that Muslims don't have to equal Pakistani.

[Sbane]

There are no India/Pakistan tensions at all here. Not in the Bay Area at least. What sort of tensions are there in the UK? Sounds odd.

[freepcrusher]

the most nonpartisan way to answer the original question is this: Many Asian Americans were originally republicans because they were staunch anti-communists and supported the republican party's anticommunist positions. Once the Cold War was over however, they began migrating to the democratic party once the issue of communism was over.