U.S. Democrat expats in anti-Bush surge

[stevedeshazer]

LONDON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Janet Sproul, originally from Seattle but now in London, voted for President George W. Bush in 2000. But that was then. Monday night, amid hundreds of cheering expatriate U.S. Democrats at an overcrowded room in the Bloomsbury Holiday Inn, she cast her vote for Democratic frontrunner Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

"I thought Bush was the right choice four years ago, but I've gotten to loathe the guy," said Sproul. "I really don't like his stand on the Middle East and especially going to war with Iraq. Kerry looks like the guy to beat him."

In unprecedented numbers, it seems, American Democrats abroad are coming out to make their feelings known back home, united by a determination to defeat Bush in November. They don't get much of a say in what the Democratic National Committee decides -- nine delegates with full voting privileges and seats compared to the 154 delegates from Michigan alone -- but they are treated the same as any other state delegation, and with a potential 7 million Americans living abroad, their voice does carry some weight.

What is particularly stirring the expatriate American Democrats this election year, however, is that in being regularly exposed to the attitudes of their host nations many find themselves embarrassed by their president to a level they haven't felt before.

more: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040210-085313-6624r

[info being]

1. Nothing like stepping outside of these boarders to get perspective

The noise here is sometimes stiffling of critical thought.

[Sapphocrat]

2. And the '7 million' figure...

...is probably an estimated average. I was trying to figure out how many ex-pat gay Americans there are for an article -- which never got written, because the numbers of total American ex-pats is unknown.

The State Dept. really has no idea. Estimates range anywhere from 3.5 million to well over 10 million (or did, when I was doing my research a couple-three years ago).

And I sure understand that embarrassment when out of the U.S. I think I'm going to get one of those T-shirts that apologizes for * in seven different languages.

[stevedeshazer]

4. Yeah, I was wondering about that too

I'll bet it is on the high side of the estimate you have cited here.

[Bandit]

3. We are just as embarrassed by him here as well

Never have I felt so much like hanging my head in shame as I have for the last three years. America has become a huge embarrassment and I don't like it one bit.

[Terran]

5. I just don't understand...

"I thought Bush was the right choice four years ago, but I've gotten to loathe the guy," said Sproul. "I really don't like his stand on the Middle East and especially going to war with Iraq. Kerry looks like the guy to beat him."

Maybe my partisanship gets in the way here, but how could she have thought Bush was the better candidate in 2000, and now "loathe" him? How can be people be so dense?

[Lisa]

6. See! I've been telling my fellow Canadians this ...

"It's like there's some weird hypnosis thing going on Stateside. If you get them away from him, most Americans are just fine!"

[stevedeshazer]

7. That's an interesting take

My opinion is that the control of the media is so strong in the US that it becomes nearly impossible for the non-curious among us to form an opinion that is contrary to what we are spoon-fed.

After all, I'm just 300 km or so south of you, yet the radio and television broadcasts here are entirely slanted toward the American imperialistic point of view. Repeating the same lies over and over again works; it is no different than the Nazi Germany media of the '30s.

I'm sure where you are, you get ample doses of both. I listen to and watch Canadian media as often as I can. The differences are startling.