| |
| >> Back to the article | |
| Feb 6, 2008 | |
|
Americans vote overseas, excited by Clinton-Obama contest
|
|
| LONDON - AMERICANS seeking a change in foreign policy and a new national image abroad flocked to churches in Rome, town halls in England and an Irish pub in Hong Kong on Tuesday to vote in a Democrats Abroad primary.
The voting will determine who gets the 11 votes allocated to Democrats Abroad at the Democratic National Convention in August. The group is allowing online voting - a first for voters overseas - that will continue for one week. London's Porchester Hall was jammed with high-spirited voters as rival groups backing Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mr Barack Obama chanted and waved banners. 'This is the first time I have ever been interested to vote,' said Ms Barbara Lewis, a 64-year-old American who has lived in Britain for 37 years, after voting for Mr Obama. Republicans, meanwhile, made their Super Tuesday choices through absentee ballots and predicted their party would unite behind whomever is nominated and keep control of the White House. Most Democrats abroad focused on the razor's edge contest between Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama. 'I'm voting for Hillary. I'd like to see a woman in the White House,' said Ms Alison Kurke, who was first in line to vote at Rome's American Episcopal Church of St. Paul's. 'I think she can hit the ground running. She's got the experience, she's got the brains.' But Mr James McGuire, a 24-year-old Web site developer from Massachusetts who travelled to Rome from the Umbrian town of Orvieto, favoured Mr Obama. 'I think it's one of the most important in years,' he said of the 2008 election. 'If we do not get Barack Obama in the presidency, then we will have two families for over 20 years in the American political system. And I think that's unacceptable.' Americans voting overseas on Super Tuesday said they were particularly influenced by the candidates' foreign policy credentials. Democrats said they wanted a president who would steer the US away from the Bush administration's foreign policies, which have alienated many allies. 'We need a dramatic change in tone and tenor, and we need someone who truly, genuinely understands other cultures and can project that to the world,' said Mr Clifford Aron, 50, a businessman from Brooklyn who lives in Warsaw, Poland. Ms Gail Hanson, 39, said foreign policy was at the top of her mind as she voted in London. 'I am voting for Hillary because it has been embarrassing to be an American citizen overseas,' she said. Turnout was higher than expected Democrats turned out by the hundreds at the American Church in Paris, and many left with stickers on their lapels reading 'I voted.' 'It's beyond our wildest dream to have this many Americans coming out to vote,' said Ms Connie Borde, vice-chairwoman of Democrats Abroad in Paris. Mr Robert Bell of Democrats Abroad in Canada said he voted online. He expects a record turnout in Canada, in part because of the online option. He said an independent company is managing the online vote. 'It's quite secure,' Mr Bell said. 'Each participant who is on our database is given a random number with which they can access this third party site, and then they have to sign in with the particular information that they would know, so I feel it's quite secure.' Republicans Abroad did not have live or online voting. Republicans Abroad UK chairman Miki Bowman conceded the Democrats seem more energised now, but predicted this would change after the candidates are chosen. 'I think our candidates are much less polarising than the Democratic candidates, and we're confident whoever gets nominated has the likelihood of winning the presidency,' she said. Ms Mary Jo Jacobi, a longtime Londoner and former advisor to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, predicted Republicans would get a lift if Mrs Clinton is nominated. 'The party might be at a loss right now as to who to nominate, but Mrs Hillary Clinton is a galvanising force and if she's at the top of the ticket you can be assured there will be a strong Republican turnout,' said Ms Jacobi. US voters who want to vote in the primaries of their home states may do so by absentee ballot, with the deadline for voting varying from state to state. For most Super Tuesday primary states, the deadline was Tuesday. The Democrats Abroad voting started at the stroke of midnight in Indonesia, where Mr Obama lived as a child. 'An individual voice' 'After the past eight years of total trouble in the US, both internationally and domestically, I think it's important (to vote),' Prof Fletcher said, sipping his pint of beer after voting for Mrs Clinton. Dozens of people stopped by a polling both in downtown Tokyo. 'I love that we get to cast the first votes on the Super Tuesday primary day,' said Ms Lauren Shannon, a Pennsylvania native and chairwoman of Democrats Abroad in Japan. 'I see a significant difference between concerns of voters abroad and at home, and I feel we should have an individual voice.' -- AP | |
| Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access |