This crowd was much younger than those I used to see voting at the embassy twenty years ago. The generational change in the Democrats Abroad in Paris was actually very uplifting and the few older faces in the crowd were smiling because of it. Being an American in Paris with a Republican president like Bush had been a real drag. The party last night with big screen CNN coverage was held in a trendy bar in the 8th arrondissement, and interestingly, some expats who had not come out to vote for decades were in attendance.
They say we officially number 6 million, (I would put it unofficially at twice that at least) around the world, we "expatriate" Americans. How many of us are Democrats? Probably quite a few, if not the majority. In France alone we are 125,000 official U.S. expats, and more than ever before voted in the global primary yesterday. Democrats Abroad in France is at its largest membership ever at nearly 5,000!
The atmosphere was positive and everyone I spoke with felt that we had two great candidates. No one seemed to really mind if Hillary or Obama won, though it seemed that those more pro Obama were okay with Hillary winning than vice versa. The signs at the bar all read Hillary but the handmade signs and buttons tended to go Obama.
The one negative that kept rearing its ugly head was that perhaps there might not be a Democrat elected at all... especially if McCain won the nomination, which seems to be the case. I have this problem too, which is that even though I don't want McCain, I have a hard time disliking the man. He reminds me of Ike, it is just difficult to seriously dislike his stiff grandfatherly appeal. And all that time as a POW, I feel like finally someone who didn't wriggle his ay out of service based on daddy's connections, or whatever. He paid his dues, served the country and is some kid of voice of reason. That is, for a warmongerer.
But I also feel that Hillary has paid her dues, and bloody well deserves to be a given a chance to show what she can really do for our country. She even looks more presidential of late. I don't dislike Obama but somehow I prefer listening to his wife speak than him... a bit like how I felt about Bill Clinton in the early days... that this man must have something good going on if he could convince such a bright woman to marry him...who knows, maybe we will be voting for Mrs. Obama next decade!
But whoever ends up winning, just the high turnout for a global primary is positive for the country. And people around the world are really watching this election closely, thus we have a real responsibility to keep informed and vote,and encourage others to do so. Furthermore, the sense that we matter somehow this time around after our absentee votes and voices were ignored or wiped out during the last two Presidential elections... makes us want to participate in the process of renewal... to hopefully rebuild some of what Bush destroyed in terms of our goodwill abroad. We "expats" live with the results of those years everyday. Some of us risk our lives because of it.
A message for everyone back home, remember that there are millions of us voting abroad and our votes matter. We are Americans, wherever we happen to be living, for whatever length of time. And we see how important it is that we have a strong, intelligent, well-respected leader. Not just to help those within the United States, but to make this world a more peaceful place by winning back respect from outside our borders as well.
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Posted February 6, 2008 | 12:21 PM (EST)