American voters might be frustrated by the negative tone of the presidential campaign. They might not like Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. And they might have little appetite for the two major political parties.
 
But those attitudes aren’t necessarily translating into support for third-party candidates in the upcoming presidential contest.
 
In early July, Gallup released a poll that included third-party candidates in addition to Obama and Romney. Just 3% of registered voters said they backed Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor; 2% volunteered Ron Paul’s name; 1% supported Green Party nominee Jill Stein; and another 1% offered names that weren’t listed in the poll.
 
In a June NBC/WSJ poll, however, 15% of registered voters said they would support an unnamed “independent” candidate over Obama and Romney.
 
Johnson originally competed for this cycle’s GOP presidential nomination, but he pulled out of the contest in Dec. 2011 after being unable to capture support (and participate in most of the Republican debates).
 
Stein is a physician and environmental-health advocate who ran against Romney in the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election as the Green Party's nominee. She won the same party's presidential nomination in June 2012, and named her vice-presidential running mate Cheri Honkala in July 2012.
 
In previous presidential contests, third-party candidates like John Anderson (1980), Ross Perot (1992 and 1996) and Ralph Nader (2000) have garnered some support and gained national attention -- but none has managed to beat the Republican or the Democratic candidate in the general election. Ross Perot was so successful in his presidential run in 1992 that he made it to the national debates with George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, even at one point scoring higher in the polls than the other two.

The July Gallup poll also makes this pretty clear: The inclusion of third-party candidates comes at Romney’s expense. Indeed, with Johnson, Stein, and Paul added in the mix, Obama’s percentage was at 47% while Romney’s was at 40%.
 
By comparison, in the most recent Gallup head-to-head matchup between the two men, Obama and Romney are tied at 46%.

Although the Latino vote could very well decide the upcoming presidential election, Hispanics no longer make up the fastest-growing immigrant group in the United States.

That honor instead goes to immigrants from Asia, according to a new study by the Pew Research Institute.

The study shows that, from 2000-2010, the annual arrival of Hispanic immigrants declined from 59% of all immigrants to 31%, while Asian immigrants increased from 19% to 36%.

Overall, the Asian-American population in America reached a record 18.2 million in 2011, bringing the demographic to 5.8% of the U.S. population -- a surge from 1% in 1965.

By comparison, however, there are 52 million Latinos in the U.S., or 16% of the population.

Politically, Asian Americans in the U.S. tend to vote Democratic. According to Pew, half of them are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party; only 28% identify as Republicans.

Asian Americans also view President Obama in a more favorable light, with a 54% approving of his job versus 44% for the general public who do. According to 2008 Election Day exit polls, Asian Americans supported Obama over John McCain by a 62%-35% margin.

On a broader political ideology scale, 55% of Asian Americans prefer a larger government with more services, while only 36% support a smaller government. Those numbers for the general populace are essentially reversed, with 52% supporting small government and 39% favoring bigger government.

When it comes to social issues, Asian Americans support same-sex marriage by a 53%-35% margin, and 54% believe abortion should be legal (versus 37% who say it should be illegal).

But how important will the Asian-American vote be in 2012, especially in key battleground states? The Asian-American populations in Nevada and Virginia are 6.2% and 4.9%, respectively, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data.

The populations in Florida and North Carolina, however, are much smaller, making up only 2% in each state. The states where Asian-Americans mostly reside are (in order) Hawaii, California, New Jersey, and New York.