By Emily Laycock
President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race has left many young AAPI voters in Georgia feeling shocked and upset.
Four Asian American Pacific Islanders students at the University of Georgia, including Ethan Liu, Anamika Sinha, Arnav Gupta, and Jean share their thoughts on Biden’s decision and their opinions on his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Reaction to Biden’s Decision
When speaking with AAPI students at UGA there was a consensus of shock, upset, frustration, and betrayal felt among students regarding Biden’s decision. “I was profoundly affected by this blindsided 180-degree turn in this election. I felt betrayed by the democratic party for changing its presidential candidate so late into the election, and I was upset with the current president for his lack of consistency in this presidential race,” said Ethan Liu, a second-year exercise science major.
Arnav Gupta and Anamika Sinha shared similar sentiments to Liu, while also expressing the concern they felt for the Democratic party. “Initially I was upset as I thought our (Democrats) chances of winning the election and keeping Trump out of office had dropped significantly,” said Gupta, a second-year computer science major.
Sinha, a recent Terry College of Business graduate added, “I felt some dread because of the uncertainty that came with that – he endorsed Kamala but I felt like most people don’t have a strong opinion in favor of her to the extent that she could win. I had to look up her policies and views on key topics and even with all the endorsements she got, I feel very uncertain and anxious about it. But I felt a little better because of the info I gathered and I think she has a chance.”
The Lesser of Two Evils
In recent years, voting for the “lesser of two evils” has become a prevailing theme in American politics. This is a principle that many young AAPI voters have seemingly begun subscribing to, aligning with the majority of Americans' dissatisfaction with the current two-party system. A recent New Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 52% of Americans, “are not satisfied with the two-party system and want a third choice.”
“I may not be completely aligned in every issue with Kamala, but being honest it feels that understanding the policies of the individual candidates is less and less important these days. The two-party system and the slander all lead to the choice of as many call it “the lesser of two evils” which means that oftentimes you don’t even feel like you’re voting for someone but against their opponent.”
“Kamala may not be the perfect candidate, but I know Trump is going to have a negative effect on everyone not White and goes against a lot of my beliefs on climate, women’s rights, economy, welfare programs, military spending, power of corporations, judicial ideologies, and the list goes on for a long time,” said Gupta
Jean, who wish to be anonymous and a third-year psychology major, also expressed her previous dissatisfaction with the two-party system in regard to former Democratic nominee Biden and current Republican nominee Trump but is now feeling a renewed sense of hope with Biden’s endorsement of Harris.
“I was honestly thinking of voting third-party this year because I disapproved of both Democrat and Republican candidates, but it seemed like everyone was split on different candidates and I didn’t want to have an empty vote. So I was going to reluctantly vote for Biden because he was, I guess, the better of the two.”
“Now that Biden dropped out and Kamala Harris is running, it changed everything. At first, I wasn’t sure if people would get behind a female president who is also a person of color. However, through social media like TikTok, I realized just how strong of a candidate she is and how many people finally felt a sense of hope for our country. I think it’s about time we have a female president. She definitely has my vote in November,” said Jean.
Doubts About Kamala
A recent survey of Asian American voters in July, showed 54% of Asian Americans have a favorable impression of Harris, while only 34% have a favorable impression of former President Trump. However, despite Harris being more favorable among AAPI voters and many young voters distrust of Trump due to his racist rhetoric towards Asian Americans, some voters such as Liu, are still weary of Harris and unfamiliar with her policies.
“I don’t know much about her but I read about some of her policies when she was a representative in California regarding prisons and I do not trust her. She is also running her whole campaign on not letting Trump win rather than advocating for her positive policies which I find suspicious. I will be keeping my eyes peeled on both candidates to make a decision for my vote in November,” said Liu.
Votes such as Liu’s will be critical in this year’s upcoming election as Asian Americans have become the fastest-growing voting bloc in the United States. With many experts pointing toward increased Asian American turnout, as a key to President Biden’s Electoral College victory in 2020. The Asian American vote is especially critical in Georgia, which is a key battleground state in the 2024 presidential election.
