EPICANTHUS

PRINCETON, NJ—Asian-Americans tend to be more liberal and Democratic in their political orientation than the national average, and are the only major racial or ethnic group in the United States with more liberals than conservatives, according to Gallup Daily tracking data.

The findings were based on aggregated data from Gallup’s 2009 Daily tracking survey and included interviews with more than 4,000 Asian-Americans. For the purpose of analysis, respondents were categorized as Asian-Americans if they self-identify their race as Asian.

Gallup said 353,849 whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians 18 and older were interviewed as part of the survey. Read Jeffrey M. Jones’ summary of Gallup’s Asian American data here.

Forty-one percent of Asians identify politically as Democrats, 41% as independents, and 16% as Republicans. As a result, Asians are above the national average in terms of the percentage of political independents (37% nationwide) and Democrats (34%), and below average in terms of the percentage of Republicans (27%).

According to the survey data: “Asian-Americans tend to be less religious than those in other racial or ethnic groups.”

The percentage of Asians who attend church on a weekly basis also is lower than for other U.S. racial or ethnic groups. A slim majority of Asian-Americans say they seldom or never attend religious services.

COMMENT: Gallup is a respected litmus of American opinion. But something doesn’t feel right about these results. Perhaps Gallup didn’t include a representative sampling of Korean Americans in their tracking data. Living in Asian America tells us that Korean Americans are among the most churchgoing-est folk in the entire country, from Fairfax, Virginia to Hacienda Heights, Calif. College and university campus Christian student organizations are dominated by Asians. How about the politically conservative Vietnamese American communities; were they included in the mix?

h/t Keith Kamisugi and Vida Benavides