Three academics writing in Politico attempt to provide an answer to: Why Are Asian Americans Democrats?. Their answer: Racism. Excerpt:
Republican rhetoric implying that the (non-white) “takers” are plundering the (white) “makers” has cultivated a perception that the Republican Party is less welcoming of minorities. That might help explain why Asian Americans, despite their “maker” status, prefer the Democratic Party—even if the GOP doesn’t discriminate against Asians specifically.
Distinctions between takers and makers isn't about race, so what makes it so? I blame the main stream media which is poised to pounce on anything that could remotely be called racist even if it isn't. These academics even provide an example of how influential media manipulation is. They conducted their own very unscientific survey among some Asian Americans with two different articles about the Arizona law that required police officers to ascertain people’s immigration status. The results they reported:
The result: When immigration was framed as an issue that teamed Hispanics and Asians together under the umbrella of common interest, 72 percent identified as Democrats and 28 percent as Republicans. But when immigration was framed as an issue that pitted Hispanics and Asians against each other, only 67 percent of Asians identified as Democrats and 33 percent as Republicans.
Five percentage points doesn't seem statistically significant. But nevertheless, their concluding remark purports to suggest a way for Republicans to get Asian votes:
The Republican Party could try to capitalize on divisions between Asian Americans and other minorities, emphasizing how Democratic policies benefit other groups at their expense. But doing that successfully would require a level of political dexterity that Republicans haven’t shown much of late.
Pit Asians Americans against Hispanics. My goodness, what would Republicans do without such sincere sounding advice from such helpful Democrats?
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