Educated, wealthy community prefers party which antagonizes less.
By Sereen Thahir
WASHINGTON, DC: With the reports of the Republican Party fielding 10 Indian-American candidates for the 2014 Congressional elections and the stepping down of Rohit Kumar – aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and prominent negotiator in debt reduction talks – termed as a blow to the GOP, it becomes apparent that the role of Indian Americans is significant in domestic politics and policy.
Despite the election of two Republican Indian-Americans as governors – Gov. Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Gov. Nikki Haley in South Carolina – almost two-thirds of the community leans the Democratic Party, according to a study done by Pew Research last summer.
However, when asked on their views of small government versus big government, their positions were far less pronounced, with a split of 40% versus 49%, respectively. Barack Obama’s success in gaining 60% of the Indian-American vote in November of 2012 was a victory within his larger one considering the minority vote.
Why do Indian-Americans, despite their views on government, gravitate towards Obama and the Democratic Party? Further analysis shows that the reasons have less to do with pragmatic policy matters and more to do with the cultures of both parties.
Though criticized for not disaggregating the data on Asian-Americans further, the Pew Research study has provided a significant starting point of data regarding the Indian-American community. This is a community that is college-educated and largely foreign born, coming to this country in recent decades. Indians alone received 56% of all H1-B visas issued in 2011, indicating a very technical and educated community for the most part. Two-thirds hold management, professional, or related occupations. Despite evidence that those towards the higher end of the socioeconomic spectrum tend to vote Republican in favor of lower taxes and such, the bias towards the Democratic Party still exists.
Overwhelmingly, the consensus seems to be that the attitude that the Republican Party project is exclusive.
Indian-Americans, as Shikha Dalmia states in her article “Why Republicans Can’t Harness Indian-American Patel Power”, tend to be “exceedingly sensitive to discrimination”, going back to the discriminatory practices of the British Raj in India in previous centuries.
The problem with the Republican Party is that through their proud and well-voiced allegiance to “Christian values” and its innate connection to American history, it leaves no room for anyone else. When 82% of the Indian-American population is non-Christian, it results in a significant portion of potential supporters that Republicans simply are not impressing. It is not that Indian-Americans are necessarily against Christianity, but it perpetuates a belief that they are not “full Americans” nor do they have the potential to be.
So how has the Democratic Party succeeded in almost dominating the Indian-American vote?
It is important to note that much of their success has come from the two successful elections of Obama more than anything else. As a child of an immigrant, Indian-Americans perhaps see more of themselves in him than any other candidate. In addition, he had far more minority, and in this case Indian-American, volunteers on his campaign than any other campaign in the past.
Harin Contractor, chair of the Washington Leadership Program, a South Asian American leadership and internship program, says that one of the most powerful tools that worked in Obama’s favor for winning the Indian-American vote were the networks of these volunteers. With the volunteers spread throughout the country and working at a more local, grassroots level, their efforts were well documented in ethnic publications nationwide.
Contractor says, “All politics is local” within the Indian-American community. Rather than looking at issues on a macro- level, donations to fund campaigns often come from a local level and will likely support those that help in community-based efforts. The Democratic Party, in the last two presidential elections, has succeeded in gaining control of the grassroots Indian-American movement.
However, all is not lost for the Republican Party.
A study done by April Media, a San Francisco based research group, found that 20% of Indian-Americans who believed in Republican policies defected towards the Obama campaign. Therefore, the potential of the Indian-Americans Republican voters does exist. Given the vast spectrum of jobs, backgrounds, and views of the Indian-American community, more research is to be done on the political views of Indian-Americans.
The community also stands to benefit from more competition from the political parties. If the Republican Party can manage to retool its image and message, Indian-Americans will have a choice in their policy and leaders rather than relying on which party is less likely to antagonize them. Fielding Indian-Americans for upcoming elections is a start, but more must be done on a grassroots level.
To contact the author, email to americanbazaarcontributor@americanbazaaronline.com