Obama and the Italian-American vote

[Eraserhead]

Anyone have any information on how (badly) he did?

[justfollowingtheelections]

I was interested in this too.  It seems that all the Italians I know are Republicans.

[Eraserhead]

I was interested in this too.  It seems that all the Italians I know are Republicans.

Hey, I'm Rob aka Eraserhead

Well now you know one who isn't.

[Keystone Phil]

It seems that all the Italians I know are Republicans.

I think most are Dems.

I'd expect Obama to do poorly among Italians but who knows this year?

[phk]

Anecdotally all I know is

Eraserhead - Obama
SD Dem Party Voter Registrar - Obama
History teacher in HS and her daughters - Obama x 3
My friend Meghan - Obama
My friend James - Obama
My friend Clark - Obama
My friend Alex and her sisters and mom - Obama x 4
Her father - McCain
My friend Ryan (I think he's for McCain considering he's a Mormon from Fresno County who lives in Provo).
My friend Frank - McCain
My friend Herb and his family - McCain x 4
My friend Katie and her family - McCain x 4
KP - McCain

I guess an edge to McCain but my sample size of 24 isn't good enough.

[memphis]

my sample size of 21 isn't good enough.

There were over 160,000 votes on Staten Island.

[phk]

my sample size of 21 isn't good enough.

There were over 160,000 votes on Staten Island.

and 98% of my sample lives in California.

From that anecdotally anyway, Obama easily won females and younger people.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Maybe it's just the people I know, but I live in a predominantly Italian neighborhood, so I know quite a few of them.  From discussions I had with many Italians, the impression I got was that because they're Catholics, they support the more christian-friendly party.
I'm surprised to hear that the majority are Democrats.

This friend of mine, was at first supporting Biden.  When Biden withdrew from the race, he began supporting Hilary.  When Hilary lost, he became a McCain supporter.  He then began learning more about the two parties tax proposals and their stance on guns (the two issues that concerned him the most) and he's now a Republican.  He's more of a Ron Paul supporter though.

[paul718]

I would guess that most are Roosevelt or Kennedy-Democrats (like my grandmother and mother, respectively), but vote independently.  Almost everyone I know voted for McCain, but I think that has more to do with geography than ethnicity. Then, there's the old-timers and zips who don't vote because they feel the U.S. government can't do anything for them.

There were over 160,000 votes on Staten Island.

We voted for a Democratic congressman this year.  And an Irish guy at that!  We all know the circumstances though. 

[Stranger in a strange land]

he seems to have done okay, going solely by county results. I mean yeah, the Italian vote is a lot more Republican now than it was in, say, the early 60s, but it probably still skews Democratic, and there's got to be a huge gender gap (white Catholics). Remember guys that Italian Americans in real life aren't like the ones in Spike Lee movies, and while Obama might have done a point or two worse than a generic Democrat would do, his race probably didn't cost him all that much with this group, especially since the busing wars ended some time ago.

[Eraserhead]

I would expect there to be a pretty massive age gap. I could never really see my grandparents on my mother's side voting for Obama (they died a few years ago, so I can't say this for sure). My mother voted for Obama despite the fact that she probably holds to some stereotypical views about blacks but her older friend didn't despite the fact she's a Bush hater/ FDR lover. My brother and I voted for Obama with great enthusiasm of course though.

[Verily]

It seems that all the Italians I know are Republicans.

I think most are Dems.

I'd expect Obama to do poorly among Italians but who knows this year?

Around here they're the most Republican voting bloc except the obscenely wealthy. But that means the heavily Italian towns split pretty evenly, marginally McCain or marginally Obama. Which probably means the Italians themselves were about 60-40 Republican given the other demographics in such areas: blacks, Hispanics, Reform Jews, etc. That's not much changed from 2004, maybe a one- or two-point swing to Obama overall (so a trend to McCain).

Here are town-by-town results for far North Jersey (courtesy the Record); the towns in the southwest of Bergen County (eastern county) are heavily Italian, centered around Carlstadt and Rutherford.

http://dng.northjersey.com/media_server/tr/smaps/2008/electionresults2008/map/index.php

[bgwah]

My city is becoming the suburban Catholic mecca of the Seattle area (the wealthier white Catholics that is---most of the Mexicans of course cannot afford to live here) so there's quite a few wops by NW standards (maybe 5-10% of the population), like that dumb fascist who keeps running for Governor. They're one of the more Republican groups in the area, though they still pale in comparison to the Mormons.

[Keystone Phil]

My brother and I voted for Obama with great enthusiasm of course though.

You're a fake Italian anyway.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The New York area Italian vote obviously went to McCain. Elsewhere, probably, mostly Obama.

[Reaganfan]

Of the Italian-side of my family...

Myself - McCain
Father - McCain
Sister #1 - Obama
Sister #2 - Obama
Grandmother - Obama
Grandfather - Stayed home

I know in 2000/2004, only my father voted for Bush...but there may have been many "stay at homes" on my Italian side whereas they didn't want Obama and didn't want a Republican. Either way, definite lean Democrat.

[Eraserhead]

My brother and I voted for Obama with great enthusiasm of course though.

You're a fake Italian anyway.

Morris Park disagrees.

I am technically half-Irish though. Shh.

[Eraserhead]

The New York area Italian vote obviously went to McCain. Elsewhere, probably, mostly Obama.

I suggest that everyone watch "A Bronx Tale" to learn a little more about the relationship between blacks and Italians in New York (specifically The Bronx). lol.

[Eraserhead]

Of the Italian-side of my family...

Myself - McCain
Father - McCain
Sister #1 - Obama
Sister #2 - Obama
Grandmother - Obama
Grandfather - Stayed home

I know in 2000/2004, only my father voted for Bush...but there may have been many "stay at homes" on my Italian side whereas they didn't want Obama and didn't want a Republican. Either way, definite lean Democrat.

Your grandmother actually voted for Obama? I thought she HATED a black.

[Reaganfan]

Of the Italian-side of my family...

Myself - McCain
Father - McCain
Sister #1 - Obama
Sister #2 - Obama
Grandmother - Obama
Grandfather - Stayed home

I know in 2000/2004, only my father voted for Bush...but there may have been many "stay at homes" on my Italian side whereas they didn't want Obama and didn't want a Republican. Either way, definite lean Democrat.

Your grandmother actually voted for Obama? I thought she HATED a black.

The economic crisis topped it off.

The New York area Italian vote obviously went to McCain. Elsewhere, probably, mostly Obama.

I suggest that everyone watch "A Bronx Tale" to learn a little more about the relationship between blacks and Italians in New York (specifically The Bronx). lol.

 "Sometimes in the heat of passion, the little head tells the big head what to do, and the big head should think twice about what you are doing."

[paul718]

My brother and I voted for Obama with great enthusiasm of course though.

You're a fake Italian anyway.

Morris Park disagrees.

I am technically half-Irish though. Shh.

I used to date a girl from Morris Park.  Definitely no fake Italians there. 

[Eraserhead]

My brother and I voted for Obama with great enthusiasm of course though.

You're a fake Italian anyway.

Morris Park disagrees.

I am technically half-Irish though. Shh.

I used to date a girl from Morris Park.  Definitely no fake Italians there. 

Ever go to The Captain's? Best pizza ever, without a doubt.

[Reaganfan]

I love the holidays, because my grandmother makes all the Italian food. She even makes biscotti's that taste incredible.

[paul718]

I used to date a girl from Morris Park.  Definitely no fake Italians there. 

Ever go to The Captain's? Best pizza ever, without a doubt.

Nope, but we hung out at Tosca's a couple of times.  Though that's techincally Throg's Neck, isn't it.

[Keystone Phil]

I am technically half-Irish though. Shh.

Bingo