62% of PIOs dump Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton too not as popular as Barack Obama: Poll

WASHINGTON: Indian-Americans continue to lean towards the Democratic Party and are not favourably disposed towards Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to a new poll. The survey also shows that 83% of Indian-Americans have a favourable opinion of President Barack Obama, well above the approval ratings for Hillary Clinton (63%) and Bernie Sanders (64%).

The fact that immigrants in general are favourably disposed toward the Democratic Party has long been established, but Donald Trump's anti-immigrant positions is clearly hurting the Republican Party among Asian-Americans, including Indian-Americans. Close to 60% of Indian-Americans polled in a survey by the think-tank Center for American Progress said they viewed the GOP unfavourably. Only 17% said they viewed Republican Party favourably, with 24% saying they didn't have an opinion.

The feelings were stronger when it came to the face of the Republican Party. Unfavourable rating increased to 62% when it came to Donald Trump, but so did favourable ratings (22%), with only 16% saying they had no opinion.

Asked whether they'd vote for a candidate who expressed strong anti-immigrant rhetoric, 43% Indian-American voters polled said no. Around 2 in 5 registered voters said they would switch candidates over exclusionary comments, according to the CAP poll, first reported by Wall Street Journal. Previous surveys have also shown that Asian-Americans in general, and Indian-Americans in particular, lean heavily towards the Democratic Party.

Some 65% of Indian-Americans identify themselves as Democrats, compared to only 9% as Republicans, with the rest undecided. According to National Asian-American Survey run by UC Riverside professor Karthick Ramakrishnan, in 2008, 92% of Indian Americans voted for President Obama while only 8% voted for senator John McCain. Similarly, in 2012, 86% voted to re-elect the president and only 14% voted for Governor Mitt Romney.

Since then, Republicans have tried to woo the Indian-Americans even as some of the wealthier immigrants have backed the GOP. Still, Hillary Clinton's campaign cannot be pleased with the Indian-American support, compared to what Barack Obama got. The Center for American Progress, incidentally, is headed by Indian-American Neera Tanden, who is part of Hillary Clinton's policy circle and tipped to be part of her administration if she wins.