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an important factor for political mobilization, does not seem to be a decisive factor here--
for seldom any among the informants receives phone calls or direct mails from the
parties.
Vote Choice: Support for Asian American Candidate
In the survey, a decisive majority of Chinese respondents (71%) would vote for an
Asian, rather than a non-Asian, candidate, provided that the two are equally qualified.
More than one-third of Chinese (36%), but only a quarter among all Asians (24%), would
vote for an Asian American, even if he or she is less qualified. Ethnicity appears to be a
more important concern than candidate quality in deciding the vote among the Chinese
when the two cannot be equal.
Echoing the survey findings, most informants would favor Chinese American
candidates because they are believed to be more familiar with the ethnic community
issues and can speak for Chinese Americans. For example, a former educator from China
comments, “I am not really into politics, but I study what the [Chinese] papers say. I vote
for Chinese. I believe if they are Chinese, and if they speak Chinese, they would do good
to the Chinese community.” A few indicate preference for Chinese/Asian candidates
because of the perceived community need for political representation--if other things are
equal. When not, issue positions and job performances would be more important to
them. One informant from SF, however, expresses her concern about racism and the
wish to base her vote on pure merit, if only there are no issues of racial discrimination in
campaigns.
When there are more than one Chinese/Asian on the ballot, a well-educated
informant from LA suggests that he would vote for the one who either is most likely to
Convention