Vietnamese in U.S. and Vietnam Differ in Support of U.S. Presidential Candidates

[achtungbaby]

Prior to the Democratic national convention in Boston, journalists in both mainstream and ethnic press queried Vietnamese in the United States and in Vietnam on their views of the two presidential candidates. The contrast is startling.

The majority in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam interviewed by the Associated Press said that they don't pay much attention to current events in the United States because they are poor and struggling to survive. But those who do have time to read, said they support John Kerry because he and Sen. John McCain, both Vietnam veterans, have in the past pushed for trade normalization between the United States and Vietnam. Mr. Duoc, 74, in Can Tho, said that now Vietnamese only want to look forward.

Mr. Tam, an owner of a pharmacy that also used to sell health supplies and medicines to American GIs said that he would vote for Kerry if he lived in the United States.

Back in the United States, however, residents like Pauline Tran in Fairfax, Va. said that she would vote for Bush. Kerry, she said, was an anti-war activist and was part of the reason why South Vietnam was defeated. Others said they will vote for Bush to punish Kerry.

Dung Nguyen, who lives in the United States, says that he supports Bush because, "He is against dictatorship, helped Vietnam fight AIDS, and he is anti-human trafficking."

Minh Nguyen said that Kerry doesn't deserve his vote because "Kerry did not support the U.S. resolution against human rights violations in Vietnam."

In a Cali Today poll, 90 percent of Vietnamese Americans said they would vote for Bush, and only 10 percent said they would vote for Kerry.

[kasia]

how do we correct this?

Pro-Bush in California's 'Little Saigon'
Vietnamese-American Community Back 'No Communist' Zone

May 11, 2004 -- Garden Grove and Westminster, two cities in the suburban sprawl of Orange County in Southern California, are home to the largest Vietnamese communities outside the city once called Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City.

California politicians are keenly aware that these immigrants embrace many conservative Republican values, including a desire to eradicate communism.

As the election year heats up, NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates discovered the Vietnam War is still influencing local politics, nearly 30 years after the fall of Saigon. Both Garden Grove and Westminster want to be declared "no communist zones," a proposal actively backed by the Vietnamese-American community.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, opposed the war upon his return home -- and in "Little Saigon," people haven't forgotten. Orange County is GOP country, and President Bush is likely to get the lion's share of votes come November.

[achtungbaby]

Merged

[whatever]

Kerry is a War Hero in Vietnam, he has his own wall dedicated to him in the War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City because of his work in the AntiWar Resistance Movement in the U.S. Many Vietnamese don't take lightly what he did and has done since in support of the Vitenamese Communist govt. Just saying, make of it what you will.
Kerry Honored as War Hero (http://hail.he.net/~danger/kerrylied/staticpages/index.php?page=20040711225111152#cont)

[lethal]

how do we correct this?
Well, this issue has been around for as long as I've been aware of politics.

Every single Vietnamese person I know over the age of 35 is a Republican and I have no idea why. Even the ones who benefitted from Democratic implemented social welfare programs when they first came over.

I don't know if there is a way to "correct" this (although the use of the term 'correct' seems to imply that it is 'wrong' which I'd disagree with. I don't think it is 'wrong' per se, just different than what we believe).

One possible reason is that in the 80s, the Republicans called for smaller government and lower taxes (this is when most immigrants first came over). Reagan was a popular President and he tightened the screws on the Communist Vietnamese government. This bred allegiance for those immigrants. They don't care that he cut programs that helped them adjust to moving to the US. Plus the small government position was something that the Vietnamese always wanted for their own country. At least the ones that came over during that time period.

Its a tough situation to figure out and even tougher to do something about.

[rakovlam]

how do we correct this?

Haha! Make it sound like this is a real problem. That's too bad a group of people doen't believe the same things as you. Maybe you should boycott them.

[fossilfuel]

Many of the older Vietnamese view the Democrats as peace advocates and anti-war, thus proponents of the US pullout of Vietnam and responsible for the subsequent collapse of the South.

They also believe the Democrats will strengthen diplomatic relations with the Communist government of Vietnam (and they really dislike that).

It's similar to why the Cubans in Florida are primarily Republicans.