c****u 发帖数: 584 | | f****t 发帖数: 2724 | 2 GOP Woos Asian Voters in Swing Districts
The Group Has Swung Heavily Behind Democrats in the Past Two Decades
By
Laura Meckler
Oct. 29, 2014 7:38 p.m. ET
9 COMMENTS
SAN DIEGO—The hour-plus sermon at the Chinese Bible Church was delivered in
Mandarin and translated into Cantonese. Jacqui Nguyen understands neither
but sat through it all as the Republican Party’s local emissary to Asian-
Americans, a group that once leaned Republican and has swung en masse behind
Democrats.
It is a group Republicans think should be theirs again. Ms. Nguyen, who was
born in Vietnam and works for Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego city
councilman locked in a one of the nation’s tightest House races, is trying
to make inroads one church service at a time.
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The small but rapidly growing Asian vote has outsize influence in parts of
the country, such as San Diego, where 20% of people in the 52nd
Congressional District are of Asian descent, and the Virginia suburbs
outside Washington, D.C., where Republican Barbara Comstock is airing a
Korean-language TV ad and has attended nearly two dozen Asian-themed events
since May.
Nationwide, the GOP has 10 field workers focused on Asian-American voters,
including in Colorado, where Rep. Mike Coffman is in a close race for re-
election in a district that is 5% Asian.
The outreach matters beyond the midterms, serving as a dry run for the 2016
presidential contest, in which the party has vowed to broaden its reach
beyond its core white supporters. Republican candidate Mitt Romney won just
26% of the Asian vote in 2012.
It is particularly important in heavily Democratic California, home to about
one in three Asian-Americans. Asians there make up about 11% of eligible
voters, and they are critical to the state GOP’s efforts to rebuild.
The party got a temporary fillip after Democrats proposed allowing
affirmative action in California state colleges. That ignited sharp
opposition among many Asians in the state, who are overrepresented at the
state’s elite universities and feared they would lose spots. After that,
Democrats dropped the idea.
Mr. DeMaio, sensing an opening, emphasized his opposition at a news
conference held in a private room of a Chinese restaurant. “We ought to
make a commitment here and now that anyone who earns a seat in college has
an opportunity to take that seat, notwithstanding and without any
consideration for their ethnicity,” he said.
The candidate was less familiar with another Asian policy question—China’s
aggression in the South China Sea. Asked by a local reporter about the
matter, he ducked, saying he supports stronger economic ties and changes to
China’s political system.
In 1988, 1992 and 1996, GOP presidential candidates won the Asian vote
nationally, polls show. But the shift toward Democrats began during that
time under President Bill Clinton, who aggressively campaigned for the Asian
vote, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor of public policy at the
University of California, Riverside, who directs the National Asian-American
Survey. The GOP’s immigration position accelerated the shift.
Julio DeGuzman, a Filipino-American who volunteers on the DeMaio campaign,
points to the county GOP’s central committee meetings. “You see a bunch of
white men up there,” he said. “It has an unwelcoming message.”
Asian-Americans have a demographic profile that suggests openness to both
parties. They are better off financially and better educated than any racial
group in the U.S. They place more value than the general public on marriage
, parenthood, hard work and career success, according to a 2012 Pew Research
Center survey. Pew also found they prefer a big government with more
services.
Ms. Nguyen, 42 years old, is testing the proposition that showing up is a
big chunk of the battle. She shows up a lot. She began this Sunday at 8 a.m.
at a Catholic mass attended by hundreds of Filipinos, even though she wasn
’t introduced to the congregation. The night before, she spent hours at a
celebration for a Filipino chapter of the Lions Club.
At each event, some people questioned why the candidate wasn’t there. A
spokesman cited unspecified scheduling conflicts.
After the Catholic mass, Arnelio Gallardo, 59, a Republican who emigrated
from the Philippines in 1980, complained that “the only time they come over
here is when elections are coming. After that, where are they?” he asked.
The incumbent Democrat, Rep. Scott Peters, aims to win the same voters, with
two staffers focused on Asian-Americans. Over a recent Sunday brunch of dim
sum, the campaign set up a table in the lobby of the sprawling Jasmine
Seafood restaurant, and the candidate worked the tables. Huge ads for his
campaign were shown on screens in the dining room.
Ms. Nguyen spends her days organizing canvassers in Asian-American
neighborhoods, running phone banks, often in multiple languages, and making
the rounds. Near the end of the Lions Club dinner, she was called to the
front so she could present a “Certificate of Recognition…as Awarded by
Carl DeMaio.” Suitable for framing, the certificate recognized the club’s
“unyielding commitment to community service.”
She said she typically hands out about 10 of these certificates a week.
“I’m so happy to be here tonight,” she told the dinner gathering. Mr.
DeMaio, she said, “wasn’t able to be here tonight but he wanted me to
present this certificate of recognition.…Congratuations!” | s*******s 发帖数: 9926 | | k**1 发帖数: 1955 | | o**********e 发帖数: 18403 | 5 赞!
不过老中要注意不要猴子掰包谷。
20年一swing,民主党里的基层
干部好容易爬到中层,不要被
这swing给摧毁了。
看到华裔就vote吧。 华裔至今
高级法官无人,总统候选人无人。
投票率是因也是果。 | h***t 发帖数: 2540 | 6 民主党里的基层
BS. They can switch to republic | T******g 发帖数: 21328 | | a**********t 发帖数: 631 | 8 A lot of them, just like Evan Low and Goodwin Liu, are the extreme leftist
even in the Democratic party, and don't even consider themselves as Chinese
at all.
【在 h***t 的大作中提到】 : 民主党里的基层 : BS. They can switch to republic
| p*f 发帖数: 982 | 9
Chinese
确实如此。Even Low Paul Fong。
【在 a**********t 的大作中提到】 : A lot of them, just like Evan Low and Goodwin Liu, are the extreme leftist : even in the Democratic party, and don't even consider themselves as Chinese : at all.
| T*********s 发帖数: 2987 | 10 re
Chinese
【在 a**********t 的大作中提到】 : A lot of them, just like Evan Low and Goodwin Liu, are the extreme leftist : even in the Democratic party, and don't even consider themselves as Chinese : at all.
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