Political science professor Thomas Schaller’s latest Salon column asks, “Will Asian voters swing the election?” Nearly 6% of the U.S. population is Asian American — an estimated 18 million people — but when it comes to elections this diverse group often gets lets attention than African Americans and Latinos. Some are now calling these overlooked voters a “sleeping political giant,” but without a firm sense of how their votes might affect the 2012 presidential race.
Schaller writes, “the Asian American vote remains fluid as a result of its ethnic, religious and national heterogeneity, and the often stark differences between immigrant and first-born generations of Asian Americans.” Large Asian American populations in Nevada and Virginia could have a notable impact on the election, given those swing states’ 19 combined electoral votes. What that impact is may depend on the resources each campaign invests there.
