Vietnamese in U.S. and Vietnam Differ in Support of U.S. Presidential Candidates

Cali Today, News Analysis, Translated by Andrew Lam, Posted: Jul 29, 2004

Prior to the Democratic national convention in Boston, journalists in both mainstream and ethnic press queried Vietnamese in the United States and in Vietnam on their views of the two presidential candidates. The contrast is startling.

The majority in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam interviewed by the Associated Press said that they don't pay much attention to current events in the United States because they are poor and struggling to survive. But those who do have time to read, said they support John Kerry because he and Sen. John McCain, both Vietnam veterans, have in the past pushed for trade normalization between the United States and Vietnam. Mr. Duoc, 74, in Can Tho, said that now Vietnamese only want to look forward.

Mr. Tam, an owner of a pharmacy that also used to sell health supplies and medicines to American GIs said that he would vote for Kerry if he lived in the United States.

Back in the United States, however, residents like Pauline Tran in Fairfax, Va. said that she would vote for Bush. Kerry, she said, was an anti-war activist and was part of the reason why South Vietnam was defeated. Others said they will vote for Bush to punish Kerry.

Dung Nguyen, who lives in the United States, says that he supports Bush because, "He is against dictatorship, helped Vietnam fight AIDS, and he is anti-human trafficking."

Minh Nguyen said that Kerry doesn't deserve his vote because "Kerry did not support the U.S. resolution against human rights violations in Vietnam."

One observer said that he thought 90 percent of Vietnamese Americans would vote for Bush.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, we wrongly attributed the quote that 90 percent of Vietnamese Americans would vote for Bush to a Cali Today poll. We regret the error.

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