Are Indian-Americans Mostly Democrats or Republicans?

[liberalpragmatist]

I ask this because I am Indian-American and I have been unable to find reliable exit poll data on the 2004 election regarding Indian-Americans, although I do know they split something like 60-40 in favor of Gore in 2000.

I bring this up because a NYT article today on Indian-American lobbying efforts in favor of the India-nuke deal writes, "Although Indian-Americans have contributed heavily to both Democrats and Republicans, they have tended to favor Republicans, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Bush's campaign in 2004.

Anecdotally, I don't find this to be true. Most first-generation Indian immigrants I know tend to be either apolitical or inclined to back Democrats over Republicans despite a general conservativism due to distrust of Christian conservatives and because Democrats are perceived to be less racist, more open to immigration, and because Democratic presidents have historically been friendlier to India. Some are Republican for economic reasons, but at least in the social circles my parents and their friends associate in, the overwhelming majority of Indian-Americans I know tend to vote pretty ardently Democrat.

Among second and third-generation Indian-Americans, such as myself, I notice that again the overwhelming majority of them seem to be liberal - often quite left-liberal. Again, I do know several who are Republican, mostly on economic and tax grounds. Also, since I am speaking anecdotally, my perception could be skewed since most of the Indian kids I know are college age (my whole generation seems to lean Democratic or at least anti-Bush) and I attend a private, top-20 university.

The only data I can find on this from the 2004 election are these, an article citing a 10:1 Kerry-to-Bush vote (something I consider too large a pro-Kerry margin to be believable) and a September 2004 poll that indicated Indian-Americans were leaning heavily pro-Kerry.

> http://www.littleindia.com/may2005/Money.htm

The media, both Indian and mainstream, lapped up the myth. The Indian community’s traditional and conservative values, its deeply religious inclinations and its relative affluence made it a logical GOP constituency, the argument went. Then there was ofcourse the wisdom of being attached to the winner. The GOP was on a roll.

Indian American Republicans boasted that a third to half of all Indian Americans would switch to Bush-Cheney in the 2004 elections. It was an easy myth to peddle, because mainstream exit polls, don’t segregate their data for individual Asian groups.

Except, it wasn’t true.

A just released exit poll conducted by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund found that far from shifting to the GOP, South Asians, predominantly Indian Americans, actually solidified in the Democratic column this election cycle. By an 8 to 1 margin, South Asians are registered Democrats. 74% percent identified themselves as Democratic, the highest of any Asian group. Just 9 percent were registered Republicans and another 16 percent listed themselves as independent.

South Asians voted for John Kerry by a 10:1 margin: 90 percent for Kerry against only 9 percent for Bush, once again the highest of any Asian group. South Asians, it turns out, are more Democratic than even the strongest Democratic constituency, African Americans, 11 percent of whom voted Bush.

> http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=26161

In September, a more-comprehensive survey of Asian Americans, which broke down into national groups, such as Chinese Americans, India Americans and Filipinos, found a 43-36 percent plurality for Kerry with 20 percent undecided.

But it also found major differences within the Asian-American community, with Vietnamese and Filipinos generally more favourable toward Bush, and Hmong, Chinese Americans and Indian Americans tilting strongly toward Kerry.

I'm interested in hearing what other DU'ers observations are on this, especially any other Asian or Indian-American DU'ers.

[Union Thug]

1. Like many young tech people..

the Indian developers and software engineers I have worked with (I'm in training, not dev or eng), still hang on to that Libertarian fantasy about being 'the next Bill Gates', and have prepared for their greed is good future by aligning with the Repukes. But this is a generalization and I'm sure there are those that align with the Dems. I don't work with them though. :-)

[nsd]

2. My parents came to the United States from India in 1962 as ...

graduate students, and stayed on. Their Indian friends, who immigrated in that first wave in the 1960s and early 1970s, are pretty evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. The professors among them more likely to be the former; the business people and physicians more likely the latter. Their children, now in their 30s, of diverse professions, are more Democratic than their parents, but I would guess the split is only something like 3-2 (definitely not 8-1).

Obviously, this isn't a representative sampling, since most Indian immigrants are younger and more recent than my parents and their friends, and most children of Indian immigrants are younger than me and my friends. But, really, I tend to doubt that any sampling will be representative; the Indian-American community is so diverse that it may be that no simple answer can be given to your question.

[BlooInBloo]

3. You mean India-Indians? I always assumed they were practically all...

... republicans.... in thought at least, even if some are *nominally* Democrats.

I'd be curious to know whether or not this assumption is true.

[pnwmom]

4. Not my impression, and there are a fair number of Indians in my

area. I know a woman, for example, who came here 30 years ago from India. She is much more liberal than her white husband, who has spent his entire life here.

[Bridget Burke]

11. Why do you make that assumption?

Do you actually know any "India-Indians"?

[BlooInBloo]

13. 50-100, I would guess.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. Personally, my parents and I are Dems.

[Philosoraptor]

6. delete

[burythehatchet]

7. My father is hard right

My mother does what my father tells her to (outside the home)

My older brother is hard right

My sister is left.

I think its pretty evenly split
and its along the same demographic
lines as the rest of America.

Immigrants who make it through
tough times on their own, AND
who are raised in an authoritarian
families tend to be cons.

[rman]

8. selfdelete

[Bhaisahab]

9. my two cents (not directly related)

i suspect most indian americans are republican leaning, because when seen in the context of indian american letters to editors of magazines and newspapers in India, they come across as muslim-haters, hindu chauvinists, and socialism-deriders. the biggest source of funds for right wing hindu organizations in the country come from indian americans, and their nuisance potential to peace and development in India is considerable.
arundhati roy has to just so much as speak one line in a magazine like Outlook, and in comes tons of emails to the editor from places such as Lafayette and Richmond, most of which display a rabid pathological hatred for her, while ignoring the substance of her message. that's a typical rightwingnut thing to do...

i'll get out now.

[liberalpragmatist]

12. That's true

Although my own impression still, from both anecdotal and statistical evidence, is that a majority (though not overwhelming) votes Democrat (although a substantial portion of those who vote Democrat are still very Islamophobic, anti-Pakistan, and supporters or at least tolerators of right-wing Hindu fundamentalism). I don't see that anywhere near as much in people my age, although like I said, that is anecdotal.

You could add, however, that the people who are outraged enough to write such letters are the most rabidly right-wing Indians and they themselves are probably not representative of the community. For example, polls show that the Jewish community in the US, while heavily supportive of Israel, has views that are generally well to the left of AIPAC by a substantial margin. You wouldn't know that though by most of letters to the editor, which skew very right-wing and Likudnik.

[Bhaisahab]

14. You have a point there LP

its just that i get so fucking furious with the vitriolic letters that come in from America from time to time.

but you're absolutely correct that its usually the most rabid who make it to the Letters pages of magazines. i also know that the younger generation of Indian-Americans has its head in the right place, as also its heart. There was this dude (Raj someone?) who heckled a bushista in a university (I think it was Ann Coulter) and he wrote a kick-ass account of the whole encounter. guys like that, and the smattering of Indian-Americans on DU, bring me immense comfort and hope.

Do you visit India often? Look me up, I'm in New Delhi :)

[liberalpragmatist]

18. I'll also add that Christian Indian-Americans tend to be Republican

I don't know enough Christian Indian-Americans to even put forth marginally representative anecdotal evidence; still, the few Christian Indian-Americans I know (mostly Catholic) are Republicans. And if you look at the Indian-American RW pundits and politicians, many of them - Bobby Jindal, Dinesh D'Souza, Ramesh Ponnuru - are Catholic.

Muslim Indian-Americans are also very conservative but probably vote very Democrat and Hindus are probably somewhat mixed, perhaps a 55-60% majority Democrat-voting, with a firmer margin among second-generation Indians.

[slackmaster]

10. My Indian uncle is about as far to the left as you can get

And still be a Democrat.

OTOH his wife, my mom's sister, is a lifelong Republican. They were married in 1954 shortly after he immigrated.

[genie_weenie]

15. Anarchists.

How could they trust either party or any party?

[Grebrook]

16. Sherman Alexie is a favorite author of mine, but he warned liberals once..

that a lot of Indians are basically "like rednecks" and liberals have a naive vision of Indian-Americans being staunch liberals like African-Americans.

[liberalpragmatist]

17. Asian Indians, not American Indians

To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, Gandhi not Sitting Bull.

But that's okay :)

[Cha]

27. Right, "Ghandi not

Sitting Bull"..I remember that, I thought that was a very unique way to put it.

[fujiyama]

19. My guess is it leans overall Democratic

but probably in the medical field, it's the other way.

I would assume like all other racial and ethnic groups, income will be the main deciding factor. I know my parents are liberal (well they oppose Bush and his policies), but like most immigrants, they are socially conservative.

As for younger people, I'm sure it leans liberal. There also, their ideaology is likely determined by their parents income.

It's very difficult to get accurate numbers for such a relatively small ethnic group. Also, considering most live in blue states, it makes these readings even more difficult to gauge. I know that certain Dems have been huge beneficiaries of Indian American contributions like Hillary Clinton, Biden, etc.

Also, one reason many Indian-Americans have leaned Dem over the years is because of the republicans favoring Pakistan during the Cold War. Historically, republicans (until Bush) have been very suspicious of India. Obviously 9/11 has changed things in some respects, but not entirely (Bush has decided to give billions in military contributions to them). Ignorant Hindutva types likely lean republican because all they care about is killing Muslims. They are a lot like rednecks in that sense and likely believe other neocon bullshit like Saddam=Al Qaeda and the war in Iraq=the war on terror. What's unfortunate is that those people are pretty well educated, but have no better understanding of geopolitics than rednecks.

[liberalpragmatist]

20. Even in the medical field I'm not sure

Most of the Indian doctors my parents are friends with are Democrats.

I do remember one article noting that to some extent it depended on which states Indians were located in - Texas Indians were much more likely to contribute and vote for Republicans, while New York and California Indians were more likely to vote for and contribute to Democrats.

As for you, I'm assuming from your sn that you're Japanese-American. I know that what surveys have been done indicate that Chinese-Americans tend to vote Democrats as well, although not obviously in African-American-like numbers. I also know that Vietnamese and Filipino-Americans are more likely to vote Republican. I'm curious about Korea-Americans, however, and would like to know your input on that. Given that the Korean-American community is heavily Christian and often quite socially-conservative (even evangelical), I wonder if they lean Republican?

[fujiyama]

21. LOL

No, I'm also Indian-American. I chose the name randomly long ago to use for internet message boards.

I remember seeing surveys indicating Korean-Americans lean somewhat conservative because many were evangelical, though of course that may be different in different states.

Another thing to keep in mind is the strong anti communist feelings that are present in Korean and some Chinese immigrants, similar to Cuban Americans. Some of those are Cold War holdover feelings that "republicans are stronger against communism than Dems".

Most of the immigrants I've met are Dem regardless of where they are from. But my personal sampling is limited. The Japanese person I knew was very conservative but that was due to his Baptist beliefs.

Clinton did very well with all Asian groups and was able to draw a large number. Bush may have got some in the last election due to the same scare tactics (terra and gay marriage) used with the rest of the population.

[liberalpragmatist]

22. oh, haha

Guess I shouldn't have made such a random assumption.

[karynnj]

24. That Bush did select Pakistan as an important ally

and Kerry fought the Pakistan based BCCI may expalin th epolls numbers that suggested Kerry was heavilly favored.

I know in 2005, the day Kerry had 5 events to support Corzine, one was to speak to an Indian/American crowd in Edison, NJ. From the article, he got and answered some detailed questions relating to India and Pakistan - an area that he has studied for years for the SFRC. (His coverage when he went to India earlier this year was far better in the Indian press than in the American press.

[JI7]

23. i have noticed a few Indian Americans among the right wing

like that guy in Lousiana in Congress. and there is the columnist pundit guy , i think his name is Ramesh something with a horrible voice. and a few others. maybe i notice it because it just seems surprising to see Indian Americans this active as a Republican.

but i think overall most are Democrats. especially the younger ones who grew up here and are partisans are mostly liberal.

i think most who are Republican or vote Republican do it because of the issues. as mentioned before about the medical field. they might be convinced that the Republican Party will be better for them in terms of the job they do. they might just as easily vote for the Dem if they think they will be better in this area.

[liberalpragmatist]

25. I also mentioned that many are Catholic

Rep. Bobby Jindal, Ramesh Ponnuru, Dinesh D'Souza and major Bush donor Zach Zachariah are all Catholic, which leads me to think that Christian Indian-Americans are probably much more likely to be Republican.

[JI7]

26. i wonder about Sikhs, Muslims, and of course Hindus

wasn't there a Sikh who ran in the Republican Primary in Illinois for Senate i think.

you have a point about the religion thing. Hindus are likely to be Democrat just because many Republicans come off as intolerant in that area. and even the ones who are Republicans are probably the types where they are liberal on social issues but on economic issues and especially concerning deregulation and less taxes on Business they tend to lean conservative.

i do remember reading about the prominence of Sikhs at the DNC in 2004.

btw, Jindal converted to Catholicism. do you know what his political leanings were before that or did his conversion come along with his movement to the conservative agenda ?

i wish a Democratic Indian American would challenge him. i think many Indians support him just because of his background. he even tried to get black voters by using his background.

[liberalpragmatist]

28. Yeah, there was a LOT of support for him just because he was Indian

I do remember reading that he's a convert to Catholicism. I don't know whether that coincided with a shift to the right or if he was always conservative. Or for that matter, if it's all just political manoevering - I mean, in Louisiana, his race already counts against him, so why not neutralize that somewhat by at least sharing religion with everybody else down there?

As for Democratic Indian-Americans, I know there's a Minnesota state senator who's Indian and Democratic who has talked about running for Congress many times - no plans afoot as far as I know, though. Satveer Chaudhary: http://www.chaudhary.org/