{"id":67277,"date":"2024-09-11T14:13:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T21:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=67277"},"modified":"2024-09-11T14:13:01","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T21:13:01","slug":"the-enormous-power-of-the-untapped-aapi-independent-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=67277","title":{"rendered":"The Enormous Power of the Untapped AAPI Independent Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_59 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_59\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span><a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/author\/sunita\/\">Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_60 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_60\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><i class=\"tdb-date-icon tdc-font-fa tdc-font-fa-calendar\"><\/i><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2024-09-10T17:28:59-07:00\">Sep 10, 2024<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_61 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_61\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>The percentage of Asian Americans who identify as Independents has grown to 31%, according to AAPIData.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_62 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_62\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"entry-thumb td-animation-stack-type0-2\" title=\"aapi voters\" src=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/aapi-voters-1068x712.jpg 1068w\" alt=\"AAPI voters\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"tdb-caption-text\">(Canva image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_63 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_63\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>The large, largely untapped bloc of Asian American Independent voters could deliver the win to Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris or her opponent, Republican Donald Trump in an extremely tight race.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times\/Siena College poll, released one day ahead of the much-anticipated Sept. 10 debate, showed Trump leading Harris by 1 point, with a margin of error at +\/- 2.8 points. The two are in a tie in the critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona. Harris edges out Trump by the slimmest of margins in Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina, while Trump prevails by 1 point in Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>The critical swing states are home to about 1.75 million Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who are eligible to vote. They may represent just 3 or 4% of the voting population in their states, but that small percentage could deliver the margin of victory.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Independents Are Up for Grabs<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-video-replacer\" data-id=\"undefined\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"R79xIF61kXc\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget2\" title=\"Republicans Who Support Harris for President Are Still Likely to Vote GOP in Down Ballot Races\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R79xIF61kXc?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Rina Shah, Republican strategist and member on the advisory board of the Renew Democracy Initiative, discusses the challenges Kamala Harris faces as a bi-racial candidate.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At a Sept. 6\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/media-briefings\/all-eyes-on-aapi-voters-in-swing-states\/\">Ethnic Media Services news briefing<\/a>, Republican strategist Rina Shah said the huge bloc of AANHPI Independents is up for grabs by any party who actively engages with the community. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/aapidata.com\/featured\/2024-asian-american-voter-survey\/\">2024 Asian American Voter Survey<\/a>\u00a0revealed that less than 42% of AANHPI voters had been contacted by either party.<\/p>\n<p>Immigration reform, education, educational equity, and economic opportunity are key issues that register with AANHPI voters of either party, said Shah. Both parties need to engage more directly with the AANHPI community through not only targeted outreach, but also by addressing specific local concerns, she said, adding such outreach could include hosting community events, working with local leaders, and creating policies that address the unique needs of the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo court the growing independent AANHPI vote, it\u2019s going to take a mix of relevant policy focus as well as genuine engagement,\u201d said Shah.<\/p>\n<p>Many Republicans are dissatisfied with Trump at the top of the ticket, said Shah, who in 2016 headed up Republican presidential candidate Evan McMullin\u2019s bid for the White House. She noted that they may vote for Harris at the top of the ticket, but continue to vote Republican in down-ballot races.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1st Time Voters<\/h2>\n<p>Fifteen million AANHPIs are eligible to vote, noted APIAVote President Christine Chen. In 2020, about 65% came out to vote. In critical battleground states, roughly one out of four AANHPIs were voting for the 1<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0time.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, President Joe Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes. The number of AAPIs who voted in 2020 in Georgia was over 142,000, and 26% were first-time voters, said Chen.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-video-replacer\" data-id=\"undefined\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"q7XYD5JT0pA\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget4\" title=\"On Many Issues, AAPI Voters See Little Difference Between Republican and Democratic Candidates\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q7XYD5JT0pA?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Christine Chen, co-Founder and Executive Director of APIAVote, shares the top election issues for AAPI voters and notes that in many cases the AAPI electorate doesn\u2019t see a difference in how Democrat and Republican candidates will tackle these issues.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf you do the math, that\u2019s about 39,000 voters, three times the margin of victory. So these are concrete ways and numbers that we\u2019re seeing where we actually are making a difference,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Bread and butter issues, along with immigration, and crime are among the most important issues for AANHPI voters, but Chen said that a significant number of voters see little difference in which party can successfully tackle those issues.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018The Reason for Victory\u2019<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-video-replacer\" data-id=\"undefined\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"ekq6PzejaGM\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget6\" title=\"In Battleground States, AANHPI Voters Could Determine the Election Outcome\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ekq6PzejaGM?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Shekar Narasimhan, Founder and Chairman of the AAPI Victory Fund, discusses the impact of the AANHPI electorate in states where electoral college votes matter the most.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe AANHPI vote is very significant,\u201d said Shekar Narasimhan, chairman and founder of the AAPI Victory Fund. \u201cI prefer actually, instead of saying that we are the margin of victory, to saying now that we are the reason for victory,\u201d he said, speaking from the battleground state of Michigan, where he had organized a massive Get Out the Vote effort.<\/p>\n<p>Narasimhan agreed that AANHPI voters of any persuasion need to be more effectively courted. Asian Americans are among the most active on social media, but in 2020, the first truly virtual year for campaigning, more than half the community was not reached.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCandidates don\u2019t know how to talk to us, which language to reach, which communities to talk to, the WhatsApp channels that we frequent, or the television. And therefore, there is an absence of information,\u201d said Narasimhan, who noted that a huge percentage of AANHPIs are low-information voters. \u201cWe tell every candidate to show up in our communities, talk to our voters about the issues that matter to this community,\u201d he said, noting critical issues include immigration, and access to capital for small businesses.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vietnamese American Shift Left?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-video-replacer\" data-id=\"undefined\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"ZhmBgqTRPOM\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget8\" title=\"The Outdated Perception of the Vietnamese American Electorate\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZhmBgqTRPOM?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Dr. Tung Nguyen, President of PIVOT, The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization, discusses the shift in political affiliation from Republican to Democrat among Vietnamese Americans.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Tung Nguyen, founder and president of The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization \u2014 PIVOT \u2014 said that Vietnamese American voters, among the most conservative AANHPIs who traditionally vote Republican, are slowly shifting left. \u201cThere is a toss-up between Republicans and Democrats, with a significant portion of around 25% who are Independent and can still be persuaded,\u201d said Nguyen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is rampant misinformation and disinformation in our communities, both in English, but especially in Vietnamese, with much of that bad content coming out on YouTube, he said. PIVOT has created\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vietfactcheck.org\/\"><u>VietFact Check<\/u><\/a>. Nguyen described the resource as a \u201cnonpartisan information service that has really served as a model for bilingual anti-disinformation work in Asian American communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PIVOT has also created a bilingual Get Out the Vote ad campaign, which the organization is disseminating through many platforms, including conservative, Trump-supporting groups. Additionally, the organization plans to distribute 100,000 hand-written postcards before Election Day Nov. 5.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Asian American Conservatism<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-video-replacer\" data-id=\"undefined\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"x56NXPTY-7s\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget10\" title=\"A Growing Number of AAPI Voters Are Leaning Conservative in 2024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x56NXPTY-7s?start=9&amp;feature=oembed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Professor James Zarsadiaz, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program, University of San Francisco, discusses research that show AAPI voters are leaning conservative and explains the reasons for this shift in political affiliation.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOlder Vietnamese American voters who use to support Trump are either less vocal about him or less enthusiastic about him or have been turned off by him, mostly not around policy issues, but around character issues. And this seems to have started with the insurrection in January 2021,\u201d said Nguyen. The Biden Administration\u2019s handling of the Israel-Hamas war has turned off some younger Vietnamese Americans, who are not yet backing Harris, he said.<\/p>\n<p>University of San Francisco Professor Dr. James Zarsadiaz discussed the history of Asian American conservatism. Until the 1990s, Asian Americans traditionally voted Republican, believing that the party was aligned with their values of traditional families and supporting economic growth. George HW Bush successfully courted AAPI voters in 1992, and Bob Dole followed in 1996, though there was also considerable enthusiasm for Democratic candidate Bill Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>The year 2000 saw a dramatic shift, as AAPIs voted for Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore, who won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college. A wave of anti-Asianism, along with the new \u201chard right policies\u201d of House Speaker Newt Gingrich\u2019s Congress made many AAPIs question their loyalty to the Republican Party, said Zarsadiaz, who is working on a book: \u201cThe Asian American Conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Democrats \u2018Soft on Crime\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>But the shift left may be turning again. \u201cThere are a lot of registered Asian American Democrats who are starting to move more right, voting for maybe central left or more moderate Democrats, as opposed to backing folks who are more liberal or more progressive,\u201d said Zarsadiaz.<\/p>\n<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought with it a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes, Zarsadiaz said many AANHPIs felt unsupported by the Democratic party, which has been characterized as \u201csoft on crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pennsylvania: the Ultimate Battleground<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-video-replacer\" data-id=\"undefined\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"BPoN8G5CCXk\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget12\" title=\"\u2018The Battleground of Battlegrounds\u2019 - Pennsylvania\u2019s Decisive AAPI Vote\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BPoN8G5CCXk?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Mohan Seshadri, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, discusses the power of the AAPI vote in Pennsylvania and how it can be leveraged to support the AAPI community.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mohan Seshadri, executive director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, spoke to reporters from the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which several pundits believe will determine the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPennsylvania is the battleground of battlegrounds. It\u2019s where everything\u2019s going down. And that means that for our community, when we\u2019re the margin of victory, there\u2019s an intense opportunity to build local grassroots political power,\u201d he said, noting that organizations need to be long-term resourced, so that they\u2019re doing day-to-day outreach in the community, outside of election cycles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we launched in 2020, we doubled the Asian-American vote in Pennsylvania, and that doubling provided fully half of President Biden\u2019s margin of victory in the state,\u201d said Seshadri, adding that his organization was also successful in flipping down-ballot races.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to knock on 500,000 doors in 22 languages; make 5 million phone calls in 22 languages. We\u2019re going to send a million pieces of mail in the languages our communities speak with representation from our community leaders on it in order to meet every single member of our community where they are, and make sure they know not just how to vote in this critical election, but also which candidates up and down the ballot are actually going to listen to and fight for our communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BySunita Sohrabji Sep 10, 2024 The&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67278,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67277\/revisions\/67278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}