Americans abroad could make difference in close election

[Judi Lynn]

October 17, 2004

Last modified October 17, 2004 - 2:08 am

Americans abroad could make difference in close election
Knight Ridder News



BERLIN - Henry Nickel and other representatives of the much-talked-about presidential swing vote sat in a basement bar, drinking tall German beers and small dark coffees, and enjoying their moment in the American political spotlight.

Reporters from Time magazine, Knight Ridder, a German newspaper and a couple of German television stations listened as five men - four Republicans and a Democrat - discussed how, just as in 2000, they think the votes of Americans living in foreign countries might decide a close presidential election.

"What you're looking at is the difference in a close election," said Nickel, the head of GOP Germany, a group of Republican partisans who live in Germany. "Obviously not just us, around this table. But we learned last time, in 2000, when Americans voting abroad cast the deciding votes in Florida, we do matter. The election is very close again. This looks like the year of the expat," as expatriates call themselves.

Nickel isn't alone in thinking so. Last time, Florida was decided by 537 votes. The election this time is seen as just as close. To find an edge, Democrats and Republicans have been furiously registering as many of the estimated 6 million to 7 million Americans abroad as they can find.
(snip/...)

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/10/17/build/world/67-americans-abroad.inc

[Florida_Geek]

1. Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylavania

"In Florida, about 300,000 expatriates are registered to vote. Pennsylvania has about 250,000 and Ohio about 160,000."

Sounds like a lot of Kerry voters to me. Expats for the most part are not happy with Bush outside of diehard Military voters.

[chuckrocks]

2. i've studied abroad

or two.

[wickerwoman]

3. I still haven't gotten my absentee ballot though...

:-(

Sounds like a lot of navel-gazing from some Republican "expats" (as they like to call themselves :wtf:) in Germany.

This "expat" doubts it will even be close. Can I write an article about it for the Shanghai Star and get it picked up by Knight Ridder?

[Polemonium]

7. You can still vote, send in the Federal Write-in Ballot

Your local consulate, and your local chapter of Democrats Abroad, should have Federal Write-in Ballots (FWAB's) available. The FWAB is the back up ballot that you can use if you registered by Oct. 2nd and have not received your ballot yet. Spread the word. Go to www.overseasvote2004.com (link for FWAB info at bottom of page), go to www.aokerry.com to learn more, and get the address to send the ballot in to from either overseasvote2004.com of www.fvap.gov (state by state instructions link on left).

[NVMojo]

4. I know several DODDS teachers overseas

and they are going for Kerry. They said the attitude toward the USA overseas has still not risen from the gutter.

[cvoogt]

5. I got my overseas ballot

about two weeks ago and mailed it in. I was getting pretty worried that I might not have it on time. Of course, it may not matter since I'm registered in GA and it's considered a solid red state :( But I had to at least vote. I hope others did the same. Even if all I affect are local candidates, that's something.

Holland (where I live) is an ally and has troops on the ground in Iraq as well as a navy vessel or two. The gov't here wants to be nice to the US, but the general public is quite anti-war and specifically anti-Bush, though they try their best to seem rational and fair. There are articles in papers here saying "Bush is NOT Stupid" to try to explain Bush to Dutch people. They tried to show how his being accepted to Yale & Harvard proves he's smart. Well, they conceded he's not nearly as smart as Kerry, but smarter than the average American. I have heard Dutch people themselves also saying they don't believe he can be an idiot, and that "you can't become president of the USA if you're an idiot." On the other hand, I haven't met anybody who wants Bush re-elected. I've had discussions here about the prospects for Kerry, and the people here were following the same flawed polls favoring Bush, and just accepted these at face value. It's hard for them to understand just how faulty the US media really is. They have nothing to compare that to here, unless you go back to when they were occupied by German forces.

[fleabert]

6. Count another overseas vote, my bro is in the navy and voted today!

woo-hoo!