US Dems hold London vote/prom

You have to hand it to the Americans… when it comes to exporting "democracy" overseas, they're the world leaders. Their particular brand of democracy was on show tonight at Bayswater's Porchester Hall, where Democrats Abroad — the international wing of the US Democratic Party — held the London edition of their first-ever global presidential primary for expatriates, to select 22 delegates to August's convention.

The queue stretched around the building, and canvassers for both the Clinton and Obama campaigns stood outside chanting for their respective candidates. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the canvassers wouldn't legally be permitted that close to a polling station in the States, one would be forgiven for confusing this corner of West London with one of the four corners of America.

The atmosphere in the building was not unlike a high school — if you've seen the Reese Witherspoon/Matthew Broderick film "Election," you'll get the gist. Voters marked paper ballots (no touch screens, no hanging chads) and either put them in an anonymous ballot box, or had the opportunity to go up on stage and publicly place their ballots in a box marked with a candidate's name, whilst a gaggle of non-voting kids cheered wildly. Beer and wine were on offer, as were "Cookies for Candidates," cookies with pictures of Obama or Clinton, offered for £1 a piece, as a sort of straw poll for the peckish.

The voters Westmonster spoke to were just as divided as the American electorate seems to be. Roughly half of those interviewed were supporting Clinton, half were behind Obama, and a very few were still undecided as they queued to file their ballots.

Masters student Mayra Gallardo, originally of Reedley, California but now living in Harrow, followed the campaign whilst on holiday in Thailand at the new year, and read about the overseas voters' primary in "Metro" a few days ago. She decided to come down to vote for Hillary Clinton, but said "It's a tough call" between the two candidates.

"I'm a big supporter of Bill Clinton, and maybe a bit of a feminist," Gallardo said, when asked why she was supporting the New York senator.

Boston, Massachusetts native and Islington resident Tim Corbett cited "change" as his reason for supporting Barack Obama.

"I think fundamentally — I know it's a complete cliché — but we need a complete change," Corbett said. "I like Hillary a lot, but I don't think we need a dynasty in US politics. My biggest concern: Hillary will win (the Democratic nomination) and then will lose to McCain."

Susan Corrigan, a Bloomsbury resident originally from St. Louis Park, Minnesota, cited inside information from friends in Washington, D.C. as a key reason she's supporting Obama.

"I have lots of D.C. friends. The feedback was that Hillary is not fun to work for. I don't like dynastic politics, and we've been seeming to flip and flop between two names," Corrigan said.

All those interviewed indicated they would vote in November for whichever Democrat wins the party's nomination. However, while most were confident of an eventual Democratic reclaiming of the White House, a sizeable minority said they weren't so sure.

"I thought (the Democrats) were going to win the last time," said Piper Mavis, originally of Los Angeles and now making her home in Shoreditch. "The US public is something I don't understand the last 8 years."

Written by Andrew Levy on 5 Feb 2008 10:25 PM. Permalink