Posted on 11/17/2009 6:43:01 PM PST by HokieMom
Prowling through the election returns in the governor races two weeks ago, I was surprised to find that Middlesex County, New Jersey, voted for Republican Christie over Democratic incumbent Corzine by a 48%-44% margin, almost exactly the same as Christie’s 49%-45% statewide margin. Middlesex County has been a Democratic county for as long as I have been studying election returns (going back to the 1960 election). In close elections it voted 58%-42% for John Kennedy in 1960, 46%-43% for Humphrey in 1968 (when he failed to carry New Jersey), 51%-47% for Carter in 1976, 46%-38% and 56%-32% for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, 60%-36% for Gore in 2000, 56%-43% for Kerry in 2004 and 60%-39% for Barack Obama in 2008. Historically it was a white working class county, with old industrial cities like Perth Amboy and New Brunswick; its county Democratic leader was often the major Democratic power broker in state politics. You know the territory if you’ve ever driven through the intersection of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.
Yet it voted for Christie over Corzine.
*break*
Plus, down in Virginia, Fairfax County, which is 16% “Asian only” and which like Middlesex County voted 60%-39% for Barack Obama, voted 51%-49% for Republican Governor-elect Bob McDonnell. McDonnell campaigned heavily in Fairfax’s immigrant communities and clearly made some inroads there.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls.main/, Nationally, Asian voters went 62%-35% for Barack Obama over John McCain in 2008, a number boosted by the fact that Obama carried Hawaii Asians, who make up 30% of the state’s electorate, by a 68%-30% margin. But the election results in Middlesex and Fairfax Counties for 2009, with economic issues playing a greater and different role than they did in 2008, suggest that Republicans can make significant gains among this growing segment of the electorate.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
I might dispute that. My reaction to hearing him speak twice in the campaign was,"I wonder who he wants for President."
My brother is married to a Filipina and she has assimilated very well.
In L.A., I have surprisingly met conservative Filipinos and a majority of them are libs. The victimhood mentality is hard to fight. There are exceptions..
One Fil conservative a year ago yelled at his other lib comrades at a party I attended and asked “why are you Democrats when they hate Christianity, marriage and making money”? The Philippines is the only Christian (91%) nation in Asia.
I was startled by this result also...
NJ has had the duality of having the most diverse urban populations and the most segregated inner suburbs in the country. There are so many fynamics going on it’s hard to discern if it’s a extendable trend of t
To: mellow velo
Corzine still carried the working class “first ring inner suburbs” vote. Including some towns that are 80%+ “white”; according to Census records.
Democrats are going to see this and are going to be bolstered in the belief they can take the 2010s.
However Christie took the first ring of NYC’s exurbs solidly, will give the Republicans some hope.
Edison has gone from Democrat stronghold to slim Christie vote. How times have changed.
24 posted on 11/6/2009 3:42:57 PM by JerseyHighlander
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“My brother is married to a Filipina and she has assimilated very well...”
I’m not an expert on that culture, but (to me) they seem to be a cross between the Japanese/Chinese and Hispanics (i.e., they get into revolutionary excitement a bit too quick, without thinking it through). Couple that with their use of Spanish, of which the Dems own at this point, and they’ll probably be the hardest Asian group for us to get to.
>I’m not an expert on that culture, but (to me) they seem to be a cross between the Japanese/Chinese and Hispanics (i.e., they get into revolutionary excitement a bit too quick, without thinking it through). Couple that with their use of Spanish, of which the Dems own at this point, and they’ll probably be the hardest Asian group for us to get to.
You got the 1st part right. However..
Filipinos do NOT speak Spanish. It just happens to be that they were occupied for 400 years by the Spaniards that they refused to completely inherit the Spanish language. SOME Spanish words got into their everyday language like “silya” (chair), “mesa” (table)..basic Spanish stuff but 90% of Tagalog language is a mix of Chinese, Indonesian. etc.
On their “victimhood mentality”. Cant blame them for it. They were occupied by Spaniards for 400 years, Americans for 40 years and the Japs for 4 years. They were everyone’s b*tch unfortunately.
Well, if they equate us with Spanish and Japanese occupiers, then they DEFINITELY have a victim mentality and there is no hope for them.
Asians don’t appear to be nearly as identity driven as other racial minorities.
I’d figure based on issues that non-HI (were the unions rule) Asians should be voting Republican.
They should be targeted by the GOP.
Even Asians like the diversity quotas and affirmative action.
It’s impressive how Christie won Middlesex county.
Whitman never did.
I’m just realizing Corzine lost by a larger margin than did the hated Florio did a time when NJ was more Republican-friendly. LOL @ Corzine.
Dat's my yob.
I hold no official party position but my family has been Republican forever. I know a lot of Indians and a growing number of Chinese. A number of times I have been tasked to try and bring them into the party.
These people are natural Republicans. They are bright, ambitious and conservative. They are steady as a rock and they do not like to make waves. One group I found had even formed their own “Republican Club”.
The greatest impediment that I have met so far is the religious animosity. The insults are shocking, pointed and barbed. If you think the Mormons set the Rollers off, you should see the reaction to a Hindu. These people are run off faster than I can bring them in.
We are also always on the lookout for potential leadership. If anyone spots a knowledgeable, well spoken young person with an exemplary background we shop them around, sponsor them and encourage them to become active. The two places that I am finding that kind of potential are among the Hindu and Mormons. Both groups are highly educated and have the characteristics that we want. Outside of them the pickings are sparce.
I had pretty much given up and I was advising the Party to just leave the Asians alone until an incident this past summer in another venue but involving an active party member. Our genius called a girl I had sponsored for a research project a “f------ A-Rab”, among other things, and she overheard. I stepped in and the Republicans lost a donor.
I am not going to allow the Grand Old Party to become a repository for this kind of waste. They need to be Democrats. That’s where they came from and they'll drift back there anyway. Now I’m going to give them some encouragement.
Virginia Asian voters swung from Obama to McDonnell
http://asianconservatives.com/government/virginia-asian-voters-swung-from-obama-to-mcdonnell/
Vietnamese American Republicans Coalition (VARC) & Bob McDonnell
http://vietrepublicans.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=10
The Asian vote tends to the ‘Rats, as most non-whites do, but it’s far more complicated than others. They are thought of as the ideal conservative minority group, excelling educationally and being pro-family, but they also have high suicide rates and serious gang problems in their communities.
It can be summed up, very broadly, this way.
The Japanese-Americans are strongly DemocRAT in most elections, though with exceptions. They hold a lot of government jobs in areas where they’re numerous. In Hawaii, they are the core of the ‘Rat voting base. They are also, however, more pro-military than their party and tend to swing towards rather than away from incumbents of either party seeking reelection, separate from national trends.
Chinese-Americans are traditionally swing voters, usually leaning to Democrats, but not committed to either party. They have trended to the Democrats since the 1990’s.
Korean-Americans tend to lean Republican, but not overwhelmingly so. They are among the smaller of the Asian-American groups.
Vietnamese-Americans something like Cuban-Americans. They usually vote Republican, but are not conservative on all issues (immigration, for example). Also, as memories of Communism fade, younger generations are somewhat more liberal than their parents.
Filipino Americans are traditionally strongly Democrat and pro-labor/pro-government, but a combination of growing economic success and Catholic social views are causing them to trend Republican.
There are some native Asiatic groups, like native Hawaiians and Eskimos, which are still overwhelmingly Democrat.
Needless to say, this is a very general view, but hopefully, it’s a useful guide post.
But Whitman was much more liberal than Christie! You mean being a total left-wing DIABLO doesn't win you more votes in a "blue state"? I'm shocked, shocked!! Everyone knows Sauerberg types get more votes than Fitzgerald types in majority Dem states. ;-)
Get this Christie also got 38% of the Jewish vote against a Jewish demorat.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/1109/Christie_won_38_percent_of_Jewish_vote.html
One problem: Corzine isn’t Jewish. He is of Dutch, French Huguenot, and Italian ancestry.
Whoopsie. :p
I have no idea why I thought he was Jewish. I think something about him reminded me of Rob Reiner.
Typically the first generation immigrants don’t make for good GOP recruits, at least in my experience. I’m also not sure all first generation immigrants are assimilating as they did in the past. In my opinion, it has to do not only with the fact that conscription has ended but also it is so much easier to keep in touch with their parent cultures.
I wonder if New Jersey’s Indian population is large enough to throw the state is somebody like Jhindal found his way onto the ticket?
When you pull out the numbers for Hawaii and focus on the mainland, the picture looks a little bit brighter.
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