ELEPHANT-DONKEY.com

When you say Asian-American, are you refering to the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians, Phillipinos, Middle-Easterners, Iranians, etc? To suggest that this diverse group of people with different languages, religions, cultures and beliefs vote as one is stupidity at its best. I happen to be "Asian-American" and I voted Obama - does that make me a minority in the "Asian" camp?

PK Raja | 02/19/08

Good question, PK. I assumed we were operating under the "traditional" definition of Asian-American, which is further East and separated from the "Middle-Eastern" descent noted in the U.S. Census.

Austhus | 02/19/08

They all have a label problem..... stop with the labels and move forward, We are Americans it's that simple....

odom2008 | 02/19/08

The candidates do not tend to keep up with the Asian-American community simply because the voter turnout is low. My parents, Korean who just turned American not too long ago, wants to vote but without a good knowledge in English, it's hard to start voting...They missed the primaries because I had limited knowledge on how to vote for stuff like that, as well. For those who can and know how to vote, people vote for Hillary just because her last name is Clinton. Sure, I'm not gonna deny that certain Asian Americans hate African Americans, but simply saying Asians are voting for Hillary because Obama is black is just...yeah. Bill did a good job when he was the president (sex scandal included, except lying to the public), and Obama...he's just a candidate that suddenly popped up at '08, asking for a change - I've never heard of him before, to tell you the truth. Obama's primary goal, or at least his promise, is to Change America. But as you can see in the world history (When did Asians start accepting Western cultures? Not too long ago), Asians (older ones, I've seen lots of young Asians root for Obama) prefer stability to change, in my opinion.

Wheatbread | 02/19/08

if u look @ the census and marriage stats, most asian-americans relate to or identify with white americans (especially in california). it would be no surprise if asian-americans (yes, broad stroke) voted for hillary.

zurui | 02/19/08

oops! i meant to say that many OLDER asian americans identify with white americans.

zurui | 02/19/08

I just wanted to say that I AM AN ASIAN-AMERICAN AND I DO NOT HAVE AN OBAMA PROBLEM...WHY DOES OBAMA HAVE AN ASIAN-PROBLEM? I feel most asians do not have the education behind American politics to vote with the issues that are relevent to them and most are not a targeted population because of the low voter turn-out. They are an ethnicity that is not many in numbers but most if not all are involved within the community and within society as respectful citizens because of the cultural background that is instilled in them. Asians are culturally very respectful and courteous and generally want to get involved but just lack the information because of the political structure in America. I DON'T THINK ASIANS HAVE AN OBAMA PROBLEM BUT OBAMA COULD POSSIBLY HAVE AN ASIAN PROBLEM WHO KNOWS.

PSU Student | 02/20/08

I would not go so far as to say that Asian Americans would vote for Hillary Clinton because she is white. The Fact is Asian Americans tend to identify with white people as the establishment. If an Asian American was in this race I believe that they would show their support for that person. Obama has broken this mold that white voters would not support a black canadate for president and, as we can see that myth has been blown out of the water.

John Hurd | 02/20/08

The prof. Wang who teaches pop culture and race seems not a qualified professor, because he does not know what he is talking about. If Chinese are not comfortable with change, why do they move to USA? "Obama's mantra of change and bold rhetoric could remind some of the unstable governments they fled". I think his mind is in illusion. Does he think Asian immigrants are so stupid that regard such an election as a military coup? "It's not unusual to find new immigrants who have never had a meaningful, personal encounter with an African American. So there's a very uninformed bias," I think most Asian immigrants who are not born in USA have a wider vision than he does. he (Alan Shum, 24) says. "Chinese people are really racist at times." He points to the colloquial Chinese for "white" and "black," which append both words with "devil." If both white and black represent evil, how do you explain why Chinese favor a white evil? I can't imagine a professional journalist of Time base her point on such ridiculous arguments. Isn't she run out of reliable sources to cite this individual? At least in Western culture, black represent evil as well. Who is racist? It seems to me the author of this article has racism mindset that needs to be changed.

Sheep_herb | 02/20/08

First, it is hard to refer to Asians as a monolithic group. Filipinos are as different from Japanese as Germans are distinct from Greeks. Second, blacks aren't monolithic either. Jamaicans and Africans are different from each other in meaningful ways. Same with African Americans and other kinds of blacks. It is as if Americans think of "Black" as some kind of ethnic designation when in fact it there is no such thing as a black ethnic group. I do notice that immigrants (both non-black and black) tend to stereotype black people more than other groups, but I chalk it up to ignorance. I would suspect that immigrants in general tend to vote for Hillary more than Barack out of unfamiliarity with blacks in visible power positions in their limited view of the U.S. The article mentions Hispanics but I would guess that if you polled Eastern Europeans, or South Asians, you would find the same pattern.

wil | 02/20/08

Does that mean that african americans are voting,overwhelmingly, for Obama because he's black? I find this story biased and unprofessional.

ynotme | 02/20/08

These article point is make us believe that if Obama doesnt bag 100 percent of the voting bloc, therefore, there are racists in the bloc. Meanwhile if Hillary doesnt bag 100 percent therefore Hillary is despicable. If someone doesnt like Obama therefore that someone is just racist? HELLO!!!!! Not everyone can be brainwashed.

lizwetzel | 02/20/08

Asians tend to value action over words. I'm Chinese, second generation immigrant, and was brought up to believe that only actions matter and that words are cheap. We are also more rational and less swayed by fervor. That's why Clinton is clearly the superior candidate for me. She is about actual results not words.

circus wors | 02/20/08

While Asian Americans represent less than 5% of the U.S. Population, they are overwhelming over-represented in Higher Education - particulary in science and engineering. Therefore, political representation of U.S. Asian communities is essential in obtaining true diversity objectives in a democratic nation of immigrants. However, just as diversity exists among other ethnic minorities that are frequently lumped together (i.e. Latinos - Mexican,Spanish, Salividorian, Cuban etc.), so too do differences arise between the different Asian groups. Some asian groups ma may not identify with civil rights initiatives or fully understand historical issues of racism and issues of cultural diversity in the U.S. as there as there are no clear equivalent social movements to compare them to (i.e. China PR). Therefore, to promote, a practice of inclusion as opposed to exclusion between ethnic groups, diversity initiatives must employed to every U.S. citizen and newly arrive immigrant in order to bring minority groups like the asian american into the political fold. Likewise, if a particular Asian American group feels excluded from political representation from candidates(i.e. Senator Obama), then maybe they too should reflect on whether they believe in actions of inclusion (i.e. desegregation of public schools) and anti-racism. If actions matter and words are cheap among Asian Americans, then why not promote inclusion and diversity instead of segregating themselves from non-asian american society?

Richard Zhi Wu | 02/20/08

I would like to note that while no "ethnicity" (black, white, asian)can be completely homogenous, to deny certain similarities between the people of a single ethnicity would be to lie. Unfortunately, the question of whether Asian voting patterns reveal racism really makes me wonder. Of course, I know that not all Asians are racist. But from no other ethnicity have I encountered more first-hand, explicit racism than from Asians.

damon | 02/20/08

Senator Obama just blew out Senator Clinton in Hawaii. A large percentage of the vote for him was from Asian-Americans.

Deoliver47 | 02/20/08

This article was appalling and I can't believe the editor let this through. As an asian american, I'm proud to say I voted for Hillary. I know for a fact that myself and many of my friends (college students) had a lot of trouble deciding which of the two to vote for, but the tiebreaker was that - at the time - 80-20 initiative sent each candidate a questionaire regarding the role of Asian Americans in their presidency and he returned it last, which meant that at the time of the primary, Hillary made certain statements that Obama hadn't (actually he did fill it out but I found out too late) that were important for me to hear. And it is true that Asian American populations are small, that's why we have the 80-20 initiative, which has done a great job, I daresay, in increasing the Asian voting influence. Most Asian cultures are just as condescending to women as blacks. yes, many of them are racist and I'm not proud of it, but to say it's a major influence in the voting is just ignorant

r x | 02/21/08

There is an excellent column appearing in today's (Friday) USA Today by Mohammad Ali Salih on what's being called "post-racial America." The new generation not only does not care about race, but they do not identify or coalesce around an ethnic category. Instead, they weigh the merits of an individual before deciding whether or not to support someone. It's an excellent read, and I recommend it to everyone here.

Austhus | 02/22/08

Here's one Asian (Chinese)-American (1st Generation) from New York that is voting for Obama. It's not about race, sex or age, it's about who can lead our country out of the holes Bush put us into. Once the voters, Asian-American or otherwise figure that out, we can welcome in our new president... President Obama.

1stGen | 02/25/08

WHAT DIFFERENT"S DOSE IT MAKE?? WHAT ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE VOTE FOR OR WHO THEY DON,T VOTE FOR ??? ISN,T THAT THEIR BUSINESS AND NOT THE MEDIA ?? I THINK WE,VE GONE TO FAR WITH THE POWER OF THE PRESS ???

ROBERT HALSEY | 02/25/08