An overwhelming 85% of Indian Americans support Barack Obama in the 2012

An overwhelming 85% of Indian Americans support Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, according to a poll conducted earlier this year. The results of the study, which were published in early May, also revealed that only 67% of Indian Americans polled voted for Obama in 2008.

Mr. Obama’s life story seems to resonate better than Mitt Romney’s with many Indian Americans. In the study, which was conducted by Lake Research Partners, on the question of Obama vs. Romney, the ratio was a staggering 76 to 8 in favor of Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama has shown strong support for Indian Americans, appointing them to some of the highest offices and continuing to laud the contribution of Asian Americans, even though his outsourcing policies have raised eyebrows.

In a speech at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies earlier this month, for example, Mr. Obama praised Dalip Singh Saund, who represented the 29th District of California from 1957 to 1963. “Once Dalip earned his own citizenship, he stepped up to serve the country he loved – and became the first Asian American elected to the Congress,” the president noted.

“When I think about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, I think about my family… I think about all the folks I grew up with in Honolulu… I think about the years I spent in Indonesia. So for me, coming here [APAICS] feels a little bit like home. This is a community that helped to make me who I am today. It’s a community that helped make America the country that it is today.”

Mr. Obama has appointed many Indian Americans to key positions, including Preet Bharara – U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Aneesh Chopra – U.S. Federal Chief Technology Officer; Deepa Gupta – Member, National Council on the Arts; Arunava Joshi Majumdar – Under Secretary of Energy; and Subra Suresh, Director of the National Science Foundation. Earlier this year, the Obama Campaign also appointed actor Kalpen Modi (better known as Kal Penn), California’s first female attorney general, Kamala Harris, and former White House intern and Virginia Commonwealth University student Sai Iyer as co-chairs of the re-election campaign.

“President Obama has a special relationship with the Indian American community as he has consistently reached to the community and recognized their talent and contributions to America,” Upendra Chivukula, who is seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives on a Democratic Party ticket, told India Real Time.

“Healthcare reform, the ending of the Iraq War, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the growing economy are benefits for all Americans, including Indian Americans,” he added.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/06/03/why-do-indian-americans-support-obama/