International Assembly Elects Congressman Alcee Hastings President

[NewJerseyDem]

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/50_5/news/6198-1.html (subscription required)

Last week in Edinburgh, Scotland, Alcee Hastings attended the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a Member of the House of Representatives. While there, though, he picked up a slightly loftier title: Mr. President.

On Friday, following a week of intense campaigning by fellow politicians on the other side of the pond, Hastings, a six-term Democrat from Florida, easily bested candidates from Finland and France to become president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE — a predominantly European group that also includes legislators from the United States, Canada and Central Asian republics. The 55-nation organization focuses on arms control, diplomacy, human rights, election monitoring and other security issues.

“It’s much more intense than running and speaking to a church or standing out in front of a shopping mall handing out literature to strangers,” Hastings said of his brief campaign, which largely consisted of meet-and-greets over coffee and tea with other parliamentary members.

Hastings — who ran on a platform that emphasized the importance of combating racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the OSCE region — said his election symbolized the beginning of a thaw in U.S.-European relations, which have grown frosty in recent years due to disagreements over a range of issues, especially the Iraq war.

[wyethwire]

1. Doesn't he have a tough primary?

[NewJerseyDem]

2. The OSCE does election monitoring in the US according to the article

And Alcee Hastings is from South Florida and says he will send observors to those counties to make sure there is nothing like 2000.

[peacetalksforall]

3. Fabulous! Best news of the day! Hooray for Alcee! Hooray for the

Europeans!