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In an election year where Latinos have been identified as the voting block that could decide who is the next president, a new poll suggests that another ethnic group - Asian Americans - could also tilt the race in favor of either President Obama or Governor Mitt Romney.One third of Asian voters are undecided on this presidential election, according to a poll commissioned by several Asian American organizations. While the majority of Asian voters view President Obama favorably (79 percent), only 49 percent rate his job performance as good or better. Mitt Romney has far lower favorable ratings (13 percent), but nearly a third of Asian voters said they had no opinion of him.Even though the U.S. Asian population grew faster than any other racial group from 2000-2010, reaching 17.3 million people, neither political party has put much effort into tapping them. Only 23 percent of Asians reported being contacted by the Democratic Party, compared to 17 percent of Asians who reported outreach by the Republican party.Despite the lack of attention Asian Americans have received, their population growth matches the Latino population.“Taking Asian voters for granted in the short run is a long term loss,” said Toby Chaudhari, the Chairman of APIA Vote, one of the organizations that sponsored the most recent poll. Data from APIA Vote shows that Asian voters remain very loyal to party with whom they first affiliate.
