Politico, a US political media outlet, highlighted on the 7th (local time) that in Georgia, a battleground state that will determine the winner or loser of the US presidential election in November, Korean voters appear to be turning away from the Democratic Party due to economic issues.
In the 2020 presidential election, in Georgia, President Joe Biden won by over 11,000 votes (0.25 percentage points) over candidate Trump after a commotion leading to a recount. This is an area where it is difficult to predict the outcome of the presidential election as Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump are locked in a very close race within the margin of error.
In Georgia, the number of Korean voters has increased sharply, especially in Atlanta, the state capital. Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta with a high proportion of Koreans, was the so-called ‘Republican stronghold’, but after the influx of Koreans increased rapidly, the Democratic presidential candidate took the lead in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. For this reason, the Korean community is attracting attention as a major variable in determining the winner of this presidential election.
Politico said, “As a result of the Korean community suffering from hate crimes that intensified in conjunction with the 2020 novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), they showed pro-Democratic tendencies, such as choosing President Biden over candidate Trump, who promoted hatred.” However, ahead of this election, support for the Democratic Party is weakening due to concerns about high inflation and economic recession.”
However, Politico pointed out that the Harris camp is not responding properly to signs of Korean defection. For example, the Harris campaign’s advertisement airing in Georgia is mainly about candidate Trump’s racist remarks. This means that issues that conflict with voters’ interests are being promoted as election strategies. Politico reported, “The majority of Koreans I met in Georgia had little knowledge of Harris’ economic policies.”
Meanwhile, in Michigan, which has the largest Muslim population in the United States and is considered a battleground state for this presidential election, there is an analysis that candidate Harris is losing votes due to the backlash against the Biden administration’s support for Israel.
On this day, the New York Times (NYT) reported, “As a result of interviewing about 20 Arab voters in Michigan, only two responded that they would vote for candidate Harris,” adding, “It was an atmosphere where it was difficult to find support for candidate Harris.” According to the NYT, there were many who said they would support the presidential candidate of the third party, the Green Party, Jill Stein, or refuse to vote, but some said, “I would rather vote for candidate Trump, who emphasizes the isolationist line.”
Reporter Lee Ji-yoon asap@donga.com
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2024-10-08 16:08:44