Throughout history it has been difficult to become a United States citizen, becoming an active voter is even harder. Many presidents have tried to create laws restricting new Americans from voting, but it hasn’t stopped them yet. New Americans and children of immigrants (born after 1965) now account for 1 in 10 registered voters in the United States. This leads to an extended effort from politicians aimed towards mobilized immigrant voters. In at least twenty-three states 5.4 million dollars have been used by civic participation organizations to target more than one million Latino and Asian voters. This has lead to a significant impact: from 1996-2008 the number of new American voters jumped 101.5 percent. This decade the number is still rapidly growing. The role of new American voters in elections to come will truly have a large impact on the results.
Probing question: Why is it strategic for politicians to reach out to new American voters?
I think that it is strategic for polititions to reach out to new American voters because they are probably easier to sway. Plus that fact that if you can get a lot of them on your side you are likely to outnumber the oposition.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is strategic for politicians to reach out to new american voters because those are the people that will be voting for the rest of their lives. If you can get someone to vote for your party while they are younger the that person is also likely to vote for that party for the rest of their lives. Also the younger people and immigrants make up most of the population on this country right now so by targeting them you may end up winning an election.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is strategic for politicians to reach out to new american voters because if they are part of an immigrant group if you sway one you could sway many in that population. Plus if the politician is part of a large immigrant group they could use their immigration population numbers to their advantage to get elected just like how the Irish did when they started to immigrate to American in the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteIt is strategic for politicians to reach out to New American voters simply because there are so many. I agree with Catherine and Zack. Because new Americans, along with the children of immigrants, are 1 out of 10 voters, the tide of an election could very well turn with these voters. For a politician, this group may well be a must have for election day. As Zack said, it is easier to win over young voters for their future votes. With so many in this group now, future elections may experience large landslides should one politician manage to win over this group's majority. Because of the associated large potential victory, winning the group over is a strategic action for a politician.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christian that the tide of an election could turn with the votes of new Americans. I think new American's come in groups and if one person is completely convinced by a certain party then they will tell their fellow immigrants to vote for the same. Politician's can claim to have the new American's best interests in mind and then a large portion of those new American's will vote for that certain party. People that our newly able to vote are also very curious and excited to be in the voting realm and I believe that if you can get the attention of one new voter it will have a domino-effect and many new voters will vote for you.
ReplyDeleteThe new Americans aren't just people. They're Americans. They are voting Americans and every vote counts. Because the immigrants are so tightly-knitted in communities, if one immigrant votes and tells all their friends then the whole community will vote for the same person. Then, the electoral college will be more apt to vote for the person that the immigrants vote fore. The only way the immigrants will vote for somebody is if the politicians reach out to the immigrants.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else is saying, when immigrants move here, they tend to stay together or at least with their family. Because they come from the same type of background they will most likely have the same political views, and also they will probably all vote for one person as a group. By reaching out to new American voters, you not only get their votes, but all of their friends and family that could also be moving to America.
ReplyDeleteIts a good idea to target new voters becuase they came here on the idea of the American dream. Its so easy to promise them the idea situations that they want to be in. And as chris said, if you convince one you will most likely convince the whole group because they stick together and believe in the same things. Its also a good idea to target them because their votes will bring up the persentage of votes you have drasticly.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to target new immigrants because they are much more likely to vote than other Americans. They most likely are eager to be here, and will be excited to use their new right to vote, which they may not have had in their previous country.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's a good thing for them to reach out to new voters because the more votes that a politician gets the better his ratings will be. Since the voting increases while including all the ethnic minorities and majorities, their votes would make an even greater advantage for a politician to get their votes. Not to mention that it also includes the groups that may have been left out in the voting process before, so including their votes is like a peace offering that allows them to have a say in the government.
ReplyDeleteI think its good for them to reach out to the new immigrant voters because they are more interested on being able to have a say in their "new" governments and homes. Also it gives them the opportunity to share their opinions and ideas, and what they believe in.
ReplyDeleteFor politicians to reach out to the new immigrant voters they can appeal to their needs. This can be done by creating new opportunities for these people. This can be done by influencing less discrimination against them as well as programs that can help them create better opportunities for themselves in America. Not many politicians are doing this for the immigrants so if one politician was to do so this would most likely give him or her about an extra ten percent of America's votes.
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