GOP out to woo the Asian-American voter

Washington

VETERAN Republican politicos recall that it was not so long ago when Asian-Americans were regarded as one of the GOP's most loyal or "safe" voting blocs. Considering their strong family ties and commitment to traditional values, Republicans expected that these voters - many of whom fled communist repression in countries like China and Vietnam and then found employment in the American private sector - could be counted upon to support the conservative and pro-free market Republican Party led by staunch anti-communist and hawkish presidents such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. And those expectations were fulfilled until the early 1990s.

Indeed, Asian-Americans still considered the Republican Party as their natural political home in 1992, when then Republican presidential candidate George HW Bush won 55 per cent of their vote to Democratic President Bill Clinton's 31 per cent.