Why don't Asians vote Republican?

[pbrower2a]

Well the far-left, ideological, liberal zealots of the democratic party don't make their party seem like a welcoming place for anyone.

"Far Left" and "liberal" are contradictory. Commies do not call themselves liberals. Regrettably, fascists often call themselves "conservatives", as in a description of a "Kombined Konservative Kampground" -- note the unusual spelling that ordinarily suggests a Kross burning.

The Democratic Party seems to be far more welcoming today than the GOP is.

[pbrower2a]

Same reason Jews don't vote GOP: A more communal ethos and a distaste for Christian nationalism.

Interestingly the two most anti-Semitic groups in America, Muslims and Blacks are pretty strong Democratic.

Black antisemitism is largely anti-white bigotry. Jews and Muslims seem to vote much the same in America.

[pbrower2a]

And none of the Civil Rights Act stuff has any bearing on how Asians vote today.

Very true, that got a bit OT into minorities in general.

Southern Evangelicalism of the Republican Party combined with economic interests that revolve around major urban and suburban areas (where the Asian population is concentrated) along with the overall attitude many in the GOP have towards public education (as well as trying to shovel Creationism into a Science classroom) = Asians not voting Republican.

That is a big part of the answer: ethnic groups that have little use for anti-intellectualism (Asians and Hispanics) have no use for the demagogy associated with creationism or any other pseudoscience. They know that they are getting no special breaks from white competitors, and they recognize education as most reliable means of getting ahead in America. If Democrats were pushing New Age claptrap and Republicans were defending genuine science, then these groups would vote more heavily Republican.

Add to this, Southern Evangelicalism is alien to all Asian cultures. It has nothing in common with Hinduism or Buddhism, nothing but monotheism with Islam, and little else with Catholicism. 

[pbrower2a]

From what I've read, Asians used to vote Republican during the 1970s and 80s.  The gap narrowed dramatically under Bill Clinton during the 1990s.  From 2000 on, a clear majority of Asians have been in the Democratic camp.

It was largely anti-Communism. Most ethnic Chinese and Filipinos and almost all ethnic Koreans and Vietnamese voted with the most strident anti-Communist party of the time because they had fled Communism or dreaded Communism in their homelands. Japanese and South Asians whose ancestral homelands had comparatively little experience with Communism didn't so vote. (The Japanese voted much like Jews). After about 1980 the PRC did an effective PR job in ethnic-Chinese communities as the PRC dropped any semblance of an effort to spread its "revolution" abroad and became a big trading partner. Vietnam has done much the same, and the Commie threat in the Philippines petered out after the People Power revolution.

The only expansionist manifestation of Communism in Asia is now North Korea, and Koreans seem to be more Republican than other Asian groups.

[pbrower2a]

I would expect Asians to vote Republican because all of the Asian wars have been fought by Democrats.

Asian-Americans have typically been Republican-leaning to the extent that they despise Communism and see Republicans as putative liberators from Commie rule. (Iranian-Americans look European and would never be confused with East or South Asians).  South Asians and Japanese-Americans have never known of a Commie threat in the "home" countries. The Commie threat is effectively dead in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.  Chinese-Americans were much more reliable supporters of Republicans until the PRC quite talking about world revolution and started schmoozing equally with Republicans and Democrats. Vietnamese-Americans might be more R than the country as a whole. Koreans? Good question. Everyone hates Kim Jong-il if he has a choice. It may be more religion or economic position that decides whether someone of Korean or Vietnamese origin is D or R.

The Republican Party has hurt itself with anyone from a Sinitic-influenced culture by aligning itself with the anti-intellectualism of Christian Protestant fundamentalists.