Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

With a tight race for Virginia’s 13 electoral votes, the southern state’s substantial Asian immigrant population is in a position to influence the outcome, and Asian volunteers are working to get out the vote in their communities. Check out this Web documentary by filmmaker Adele Pham, featuring Asian-Americans in Falls Church, a Washington, D.C. suburb.

Virginia’s Indian voters, who tend to be Democratic anyway, are expecting a high turnout. Many are still smarting over former Senator George Allen’s use of a racial epithet against a young Indian man in 2006. Korean voters are also trending toward Obama, and the Virginia Chapter of the Asian American Action Fund, a group that promotes Asian candidates and political power, is getting out the vote for Obama.

While most Asian voters are supporting Obama, many Vietnamese immigrants support McCain for his heroism in fighting communists and his efforts to help them come to America and to normalize relations with Vietnam. This “special connection,” the AP reports, has led the Vietnamese community to become more politically involved than ever.