[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.68]A growing number of Asian Americans
[00:03.44]are becoming active in politics,
[00:06.20]according to demographic researchers.
[00:09.44]The Pew Research Center says an estimated nine million Asian Americans
[00:16.20]were registered to vote in the United States in 2014.
[00:21.72]Among those voters, political researchers  say Asian Americans
[00:27.36]currently relate more with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.
[00:33.83]Yet Asian American voters have supported Republican candidates in the past.
[00:40.72]Thirty years ago, Asian Americans were big supporters of Ronald Reagan.
[00:47.92]In 1992, President George Herbert Walker Bush
[00:54.48]lost in his re-election effort to Bill Clinton.
[00:58.00]Yet Bush received 55 percent of the Asian American vote.
[01:03.20]But a move away from Republican candidates has taken place over the years.
[01:09.68]In the 2008 presidential election,
[01:13.72]62 percent of Asian Americans voted for Barack Obama, a Democrat.
[01:20.68]In voting four years later, Obama won 73 percent of the Asian-American vote.
[01:28.52]Nearly half of Asian American voters are not registered with any political party.
[01:35.24]They consider themselves politically independent.
[01:38.92]Hugh Tra is an immigrant from Vietnam.
[01:43.03]He now lives in southern California.
[01:46.36]Tra says he identifies with the Democrats,
[01:50.60]and has been politically active since high school.
[01:54.32]As the two main parties begin their nominating process,
[01:59.44]Tra considers how each candidate stands on the issues.
[02:05.12]He feels immigration and income inequality are two big issues.
[02:12.24]He also thinks the time is now for candidates
[02:15.88]from both parties to attract Asian voters.
[02:19.80]Hugh Tra says "I think there hasn't been enough effort
[02:24.88]by either party to outreach to Asian Americans.
[02:29.72]Definitely both parties need to step up their game and reach out to us."
[02:35.60]As of now, Tra said he is thinking he may support
[02:40.72]Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democrat.
[02:45.00]The Asian American population is one of the largest growing groups in the United States.
[02:52.04]By 2040, nearly one in 10 people in the U.S. is expected to be Asian American.
[03:00.24]I'm Jim Dresbach.
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