Experts: Asian Americans Could Cast Decisive Vote in Tight U

 

Stephanie Ho

There are 12 million American citizens who trace their ancestries¹ back to Asia and the Pacific Islands - about .5 percent of the U.S. population. Asian Pacific Americans acknowledge that although they cannot influence U.S. politics by sheer numbers, they stress that their populations are heavily concentrated in 16 key states, where they believe they can serve as swing voters, a crucial block to tip the balance in close elections.
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans chairwoman Karen Narasaki says her group has a diverse membership. "In the United States, Asian Pacific American cover Pacific Islanders, obviously from the islands in the Pacific Rim², as well as Asia - both East Asia and Southeast Asia - and South Asia, which would include the Indian subcontinent, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan," she said.
Getting them to agree on anything is not easy. But in mid-February, eighteen national Asian Pacific American groups got together under the council's auspices³ and, for the first time, issued a united platform outlining the community's priorities.
Ms. Narasaki, who is also the president of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, says two-thirds of Asian Pacific Americans are foreign-born, so it is no surprise that one of the major issues of concern is immigration.
"You will see in the platform, for example, interest about comprehensive immigration reform," she said. "In addition to bringing [the] undocumented out of the shadows, we also want to make sure the backlogs⁴ for family immigration are addressed. Right now, for example, if you are Filipino American and you are waiting to bring over a beloved brother or sister, you could be waiting up to 22 years."
Asian Pacific Americans, as a group, are the fastest growing ethnic⁵ group in the United States, but they still do not have significant overall numbers. Ms. Narasaki sees the best chance to influence elections is in states where Asian Pacific Americans have the highest concentrations.
Many of these states have so-called Super Tuesday primaries and caucus⁶ contests on March 2. "New York, Texas, California, Minnesota - these four have very large Asian Pacific American populations - particularly California. California has over a third of the APA population," she explained. "And it is about 12 to 13 percent of the population of that state now. So, obviously, it can make an enormous difference for candidates."
In the current U.S. political landscape, the inevitable⁷ question is, do Asian Pacific Americans tend to side with the Democratic Party or the Republican Party?
"I think the challenge Asian Pacific Americans have faced in partisan⁹ politics is that the Democratic Party largely believes that many Asians are Republican, and the Republican Party believes largely that Asians are Democrat⁸, said Ms. Narasaki. "So, neither party has invested what they need to invest in terms of educating our community about their perspective."
Victoria Lai, the Democratic Party's director of Asian Pacific Islander American outreach, says she thinks accusations¹¹ that both political parties have overlooked Asian Americans is fair criticism.
According to Ms. Lai, one lesson her party has learned from the National Council on Asian Pacific Americans is how the Asian Pacific American vote could have determined¹² the 2000 presidential election.
"NCAPA, the organization that recently released a policy platform, highlighted a number of states where the population of Asian Americans in the state was greater than the difference between Al Gore¹³ and George Bush in the 2000 elections," she said. "Now, that just goes to show that there are a plethora¹⁴ of Asian Americans who could show up to the polls and change the future of the campaign, and how our country is led in the next few years."
Republican Party spokeswoman Christine Iverson says her party is also aware of the importance of attracting as many votes as possible. "Asian Americans are very important to the Republican Party," she said. "We are aggressively reaching out to as many voters as we can. We believe it is going to be a very close election and we are focused right now on reaching out to a number of different groups - Asian Americans are one of those groups."
"What is up? We are KAI. Did you know that you can make a difference? Did you know that you have a voice? Did you know that we can make a change? Did you know that we can be heard? Make a change? How? How can we do this? Exercise your right, as Asian Americans. Voice your vote," says a public service announcement recorded by KAI, a group of five Asian American singers in San Francisco.
Of the approximately eight million eligible¹⁵ Asian Pacific American voters, only about half are registered to vote. Christine Chen, executive director of the Organization of Chinese Americans, says the numbers are low, but the turnout of registered voters is high.
"In terms of the Asian community, in comparison to other minority groups, is we have a low voter registration¹⁶ rate, but we have a large voter turnout rate," she said. "So, the key is, if we can get them registered to vote, they are more than likely to actually go out and vote."
One Indonesian American who is excited about her first chance to vote in a U.S. presidential election is Dewita Soeharjono, who became a citizen last May. One-month later, she decided¹⁷ to volunteer for the Howard Dean campaign.
"Unless you make a noise, your voice be heard, they are not going to do anything," she said. "So, that is why I decided to participate in it - just to know how the process works," she said. "Because everything is new to me as well."
Ms. Soeharjono became involved with a group called Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Dean, and says she was crushed when Howard Dean withdrew from the campaign. But she says the group's 100-plus members around the country have become committed to staying politically active.

注释：
ancestry¹⁸ [5Ansistri] n. 祖先（总称）
influence [influEns] vt. 影响
diverse [dai5vE:s] adj. 不同的
islander [5ailEndE] n. 岛屿上的居民
subcontinent [7sQb5kCntinEnt] n. 次大陆
Bangladesh [7bB:N^lE5deF] n. 孟加拉国
Pakistan [7pB:kis5tB:n] n. 巴基斯坦
auspices [5C:spisiz] n. 由……主办及赞助
comprehensive [7kCmpri5hensiv] adj. 全面的，广泛的
concentration [7kCnsen5treiFEn] n. 集中，集合
landscape [5lAndskeip] n. 前景
inevitable [in5evitEbl] adj. 不可避免的
partisan [pB:ti5zAn] n. 党徒
perspective [pE5spektiv] n. 看法，观点
accusation¹⁰ [Akju(:)5zeiFEn] n. 谴责
plethora [5pleWErE] n. 过多
approximately [EprRksi5mEtli] adv. 大约
comparison [kEm5pArisn] n. 比较， 对照
turnout [5tE:naut] n. 产量

1 ancestries   

n.祖先，世系( ancestry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All patients and control ancestries were measured ABO blood type. 所有的患者和对照组个体均进行ABO血型检测。 来自互联网
• Our point here is that all ancestries have all experiences therein. 这里我们的重点是，其中所有祖先都经历了所有事件。 来自互联网

2 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

3 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

4 backlogs   

积压未办之事( backlog的名词复数 )； 没交付的订货； 备用； 备用物

参考例句：

• "You'll need kindling and medium wood and logs and backlogs. “点火柴、引火柴、原木、垫底的，你都用得着。” 来自名作英译部分
• Our manufacturers have heavy backlogs on their hands. 我们的生产厂商手头有许多积压而没有交付的订单。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

9 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

10 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

12 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

13 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

14 plethora   

n.过量，过剩

参考例句：

• Java comes with a plethora of ready-made types.Java配套提供了数量众多的现成类型。
• A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market.大批新的运营商将获准进入该市场。

15 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

16 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。