Expats Against Bush

More Map Fun

Now this is interesting: a comparison of Red vs Blue states from the election and Slave vs Free states in the pre-Civil War period. Check it out.

The Onion nails it again

If you can take time off in your busy schedule of mourning the passing of Yassir Arafat (no, me neither), check this out. In one of those "I don't know whether to laugh or cry" moments, the Onion has yet again hit the nail squarely on the head in its latest feature, entitled simply "Nation's Poor Win Election For Nation's Rich":

"The Republican party—the party of industrial mega-capitalists, corporate financiers, power brokers, and the moneyed elite—would like to thank the undereducated rural poor, the struggling blue-collar workers in Middle America, and the God-fearing underpriviledged minorities who voted George W. Bush back into office," Karl Rove, senior advisor to Bush, told reporters at a press conference Monday. "You have selflessly sacrificed your well-being and voted against your own economic interest. For this, we humbly thank you."

Added Rove: "You have acted beyond the call of duty—or, for that matter, good sense."

Diana Kerry on Voting Issues

I just received a mailout from Diana Kerry through the Americans Overseas for Kerry list, in which she discusses her disappointment in the result of the election, and, equally importantly, in the failures of the absentee ballot system and the support for expat voters in general:

Poor customer service, inaccurate, conflicting and outdated information, blocked websites, last minute rules changes and all the rest: it was an unmitigated disaster. As a result, many voters saw their absentee ballot requests wrongly denied, and a large number of duly registered voters did not receive ballots from their States in time, or at all. Based on preliminary results collected reported by local election officials, perhaps as many as 30% of registered overseas voters did not return their ballots in time to have them count. A great many of you have been effectively disenfranchised during this election, either deliberately or through blunders, bureaucratic negligence, and worse. Whatever the reason, depriving you of your vote, never mind how you intended to cast it, is wrong.

I’d also like to acknowledge that I know many Americans abroad felt my brother’s concession Wednesday morning was premature, as all the absentee votes in Ohio and elsewhere had yet to be counted.  Please rest assured that thanks to the data available from local election officials, the Kerry-Edwards campaign was aware of scale of remaining uncounted absentee ballots, and conceded only after it was abundantly clear that even a massive overseas vote in favour of the Democrats would not have made a difference.  And despite that, we are still going to make sure that every overseas vote—military and civilian—is counted, as the law required.  As for possible vote-counting fraud, let me simply say that I hope we have learned out lesson about un-audited black-box voting.

Regarding that last piece, I know there has been a lot of talk on the web about vote tally irregularities, but I haven't seen anything that's seemed too much more than circumstantial yet, and I think that unless someone has been caught with their hands in the cookie jar at a high level and in a way which irrefutably would change the balance of the electoral votes, there is a huge danger of coming off sounding like sore losers - even Salon is saying there's not much to go on. However, I do think that next time round, there will be even more attention focused on the process - and I do hope we have a paper trail in the next election.

County by County: Red Vs Blue

There are a couple of county-by-county red/blue maps floating around now that give a much more nuanced view of where Kerry and Bush's real support came from on Tuesday.

First off, this one from Electoral-Vote.Com operates on an all-or-nothing basis, much like the state-by-state maps you've seen.

If you want an even more nuanced view, this map from Princeton assignes counties colors on a spectrum between red and blue based on how far to either side they leaned.

The Guardian: Election Blues

The Guardian has a piece up on how Britons received the election news yesterday:

"As REM once sang: 'It's the end of the world as we know it.' Only unlike REM, I don't feel fine."

At around 11am, shock gave way to group therapy through shared experience: "The time difference was particularly cruel on Brits, who yet again went to bed thinking the Democrats had won." This was from a friend of a friend. "Did anyone else hear supposed-polling guru Bob Worcester say something on ITV along the lines of, 'I'm Bob Worcester, it's 2am, and I am calling it - it's PRESIDENT KERRY!'? A real bloody Michael Fish moment."

At lunchtime, friends from America woke up and joined the chorus. With a defeated sneer, the Brits among them threatened to move home in protest; it isn't hard to imagine a Republican reply to this. "There's going to be a brain drain from this country which will leave the Red-State [Republican] morons to fend for themselves," wrote an American on the Guardian talk-boards. "I wonder what the immigration requirements are like in the UK?"

Yet again, more idle talk of expatriation. Wonder if it will amount to much?

Blumenthal's take on what happens next

Amidst all the "let's keep fighting" missives (including my own) that are flying to and fro, some of the more somber analyses are starting to appear, and they make for scary reading. Try this one from Sidney Blumenthal in Salon:

The new majority is more theocratic than Republican, as Republican was previously understood; the defeat of the old moderate Republican Party is far more decisive than the loss by the Democrats. And there are no checks and balances. The terminal illness of Chief Justice William Rehnquist signals new appointments to the Supreme Court that will alter law for more than a generation. Conservative promises to dismantle constitutional law established since the New Deal will be acted upon. Roe vs. Wade will be overturned and abortion outlawed.

Now, without constraints, Bush can pursue the dreams he campaigned for -- the use of U.S. military might to bring God's gift of freedom to the world, with no more "global tests," and at home the enactment of the imperatives of "the right God." The international system of collective security forged in World War II and tempered in the Cold War is a thing of the past. The Democratic Party, despite its best efforts, has failed to rein in the radicalism sweeping the country. The world is in a state of emergency but also irrelevant. The New World, with all its power and might, stepping forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old? Goodbye to all that.

God help us all.

Dean: Keep the faith

I got this email from Howard Dean through his Democracy for America organisation, and it bears reading:

Things you won't hear today:

Montana, one of the reddest states, has a new Democratic governor.

First-time candidates for state legislatures from Hawaii to Connecticut beat incumbent Republicans.

And a record number of us voted to change course -- more Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history.

Today is not an ending.

Regardless of the outcome yesterday, we have begun to revive our democracy. While we did not get the result we wanted in the presidential race, we laid the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leaders.

Democracy for America trained thousands of organizers and brought new leadership into the political process. And down the ballot, in state after state, we elected Dean Dozen candidates who will be the rising stars of the Democratic Party in years ahead.

Tens of millions of us are disappointed today because we put so much of ourselves into this election. We donated money, we talked to friends, we knocked on doors. We invested ourselves in the political process.

That process does not end today. These are not short-term investments. We will only create lasting change if that sense of obligation and responsibility becomes a permanent part of our lives.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

We will not be silent.

Thank you for everything you did for our cause in this election. But we are not stopping here.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Electing to Leave

Good Lord. Harper's has a guide up online for folks who feel they need to expatriate from America following the election. I think if you're thinking of giving up your US passport or renouncing your citizenship then perhaps this site will cease to be of interest to you.

But it does make me wonder how the ranks of expats will be swelled by this election result. I don't mean to suggest that a heap of people will immediately start packing, but I'm sure that some people who may have been bandying the idea about of living in another country may be slightly more inclined to try it out now. I could be talking nonsense, though.

What next?

Well, now that it's official, and we know that Bush has won a second term - it makes me shudder to say that - we need to think about what happens next, both with this site, Democrats Abroad, the Democratic Party and the left in America.

I have to be honest, I had given some thought to what I would do with the site today had Bush lost. Something along the lines of a post simply saying

"Thanks for all the great work. It paid off. Good bye and godspeed."

It wasn't to be.

I had given very little thought to what would happen if Bush won. I guess I got so outraged at the thought that crazy ideas started popping up in my head:

If, after everything he's done, and everything we've all done to stop him being reelected, America still voted to keep him on board, well then maybe America ain't worth saving. Maybe I've done all I can and I can be justified in ripping up my passport, turning my back on my homeland and condemning it to spiral into a theocratic, fascist nightmare state. After all, if people vote Bush back into power, they get what they deserve. It's not my problem anymore.

But you and I both know that's not the right approach. The response to this defeat is not to run away with our tails between our legs like a kicked dog.

We will roll with the punch. And then we will punch back. Hard.

As Meteor Blades says over at Daily Kos, Don't Mourn. Organize.

This site will continue as long as there are Expats Against Bush who need a place to come and vent, and, more importantly, to plan for how we return power to sane representatives. Our next big challenge is 2006, and planning must start now.

For my part, my only regret is that I did too much typing and not enough doing. I didn't get to volunteer as much as I would have liked, nor did I take an especially active part in Democrats Abroad. Starting tonight at the Speakeasy, I plan to volunteer myself for whatever is required to lay the groundwork for victory at the next election.

I hope none of you come away from this defeat with apathetic hearts - rather that you turn disappointment to anger, and anger to resolve.

Remember: Bush wants you to give up.

Fuck him. Let's get organized.

-Luke

Breaking: Kerry concedes

This from CNN:

Sen. John Kerry calls President Bush to concede presidential election, CNN has learned. Details soon.

More from the AP:

Kerry ended his quest, concluding one of the most expensive and bitterly contested races on record, with a call to the president shortly after 11 a.m. EST, according to two officials familiar with the conversation.

The victory gave Bush four more years to pursue the war on terror and a conservative, tax-cutting agenda — and probably the opportunity to name one or more justices to an aging Supreme Court.

He also will preside over expanded Republican majorities in Congress.

"Congratulations, Mr. President," Kerry said in the conversation described by sources as lasting less than five minutes. One of the sources was Republican, the other a Democrat.

The Democratic source said Bush called Kerry a worthy, tough and honorable opponent. Kerry told Bush the country was too divided, the source said, and Bush agreed. "We really have to do something about it," Kerry said according to the Democratic official.

There's no place like home

I've seen a few despondent comments on this site in the last few hours from expats who now feel that they can never move home because the country has shifted too far to the right.

I must admit I am experiencing somewhat the same feelings - how can I possibly move back to a country where up to a third of the populace identify themselves as "evangelical", and, more importantly, where 51% of them voted to reelect George W Bush? That is so alien to my worldview that it's a pretty big leap for me to imagine myself in amongst my countrymen again.

However, I want to keep fighting to return sanity to America, so that one day I can go back there if I so choose. Not yet, though, not yet.

How're the rest of you expats feeling right now?

Defiance or denial?

This message has appeared on JohnKerry.Com:

Statement from Kerry Campaign Manager Mary Beth Cahill on Ohio

"The vote count in Ohio has not been completed. There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio."

Is this realistic, or is it just prolonging the inevitable?

I am not overly optimistic, but I am not giving up quite yet.

I have my thoughts on the election and the future that I want to get jotted down, but I will wait until we all know what we're dealing with before doing so.

UPDATE

There's more from Daily Kos on the Ohio situation:

Bush is currently leading in Ohio by 136,221

If there are 250,000 provisional ballots outstanding. The highest number I've seen.

And 90% of those ballots are good, as they were in 2000. That leaves 225,000 votes.

If 85% of those ballots prove to be for Kerry, about the number that Gore got in 2000. That leaves us with 191,250, giving us a lead of 55,029.

If there are only 200,000 provisionals, following the same calculation would leave us with a lead of 16,779.

If the provisional ballots are only 175,000 that leaves us with a deficit of -2,346 that will leaves us in a position to get an automatic statewide recount.

Or, to put it another way, an automatic recount is triggered by a margin of 0.25% or between 13,000 and 16,000 votes.

And more here from the WaPo about the role that absentee ballots could play in the decision.

US Embassy party - Video

Just in case you want to hearken back to a time of hope (less than 12 hours ago now) and watch a sea of expectant politico faces gazing up at plasma screens while munching mini-bagels, I've posted a little video of the festivities here (WMV, 256Kbps).

The Guardian has a bit about the shindig here - and more from the BBC.

Dark days

A bit slow off the uptake - I didn't realise Daschle was out. And we're down 2 seats in the Senate and 5 in the House.

If the Presidential race goes the way most people think it's going to go, then it will be hard to see this as anything less than a disaster for the Democratic party.

Keep hope alive, though.

Ohio

Ugh. I can't believe we are back in this situation again. Wonder when we'll know?

I'm going back to sleep for a while. I may need more than 3 hours sleep to cope with a bad result should it be announced. Let us hope for something better.

Back home now

I've had an interesting night at the Embassy and I'm glad that my posts have made it up - I just wish that the "called" electoral votes were lining up a bit more in our favor at the moment (192-112 Bush, with no swing states called). In any case I am going to grab a few more hours sleep now and see where we are on the flipside.

I'm crossing every appendage I've got.

Live posting from the US Embassy Party tonight

As I've said before I'll be going to the US Embassy election night party tonight in London. I have some idea of what to expect (a lot of backslapping, Bud drinking and BBQ munching) but I'm sure there will be some surprises, and, of course, the presence of both sides of the political spectrum is sure to make for some interesting scenes. It should be telling to see the reaction of both sets of supporters as the results start rolling in later (much later).

In any case, I have figured out how to post from my mobile phone to this weblog so, security and reception permitting, I will do 2 or 3 live posts from the inside of the Embassy party to give you a sense of the place. This should be between 11PM and 3AM GMT, or 6PM to 10PM EST for you US East Coaster folks.

My expectation is that I (like everyone else there) will leave the party in the wee hours not knowing who's going to win this thing. I will (like everyone else there) slip into an alcohol-induced fitful sleep, only to reawaken at 6AM and frantically check every website I know. Rinse. Repeat.

Oof. Kerry 262, Bush 261

Recently The Man Behind The Curtain at Electoral-Vote.Com stepped out and revealed himself, turning out to be an old school geek hero. This morning he was hard at work churning out the last electoral college predictions from the final pre-election polls, and now they're out. And they're not pretty:

Kerry 262 - Bush 261

He also notes that the Rehnquist absence from the Supreme Court brings a huge potential for trouble:

SCOTUS news: Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist announced last week that he was going to return to the Supreme Court yesterday. He did not return. According to the New York Times his office released a terse statement saying that the Chief Justice spent 7 days at Bethesda Naval Hospital where he was treated for thyroid cancer. He underwent a tracheotomy so he could breathe and he is now being given both chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Medical experts say this evidence suggests that the cancer was not successfully removed and that even with heroic treatment, patients with this type of cancer usually die within a year. Should the election end up in the Supreme Court, it is not known whether Rehnquist will particpate in the case and vote on the outcome. Should he decline to participate due to ill health, the deadlock in the country might end up in a Court itself deadlocked 4-4. In such an event, the lower court ruling stands but no legal precedent is set. An alternative scenario is that Chief Justice Rehnquist resigns and that President Bush makes a recess appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation. If Bush were to appoint a new justice without Senate confirmation who then cast the deciding vote to make Bush president I fear for the future of the country. Let us hope somebody wins big today with no litigation. Do your part and vote.

Magic Time

Amidst all the super-cynical pre-election talk of litigation and voter suppression in which we have all been engaged, it's easy to forget that voting is something truly special, and that an unprecedented number of new voters are turning out this year to make sure they have an impact.

Go check out this open thread at Daily Kos entitled simply "Your Voting Experience" and read some of the responses. I don't know, it kind of made me swell up a little bit. Sounds like this year could be really special.

In other news, I can't believe I have an end-of-day deadline at work, today of all days. I have the attention span of a gnat right now.

Late news: GOP can challenge Ohio voters

In what is sure to be a controversial move, an appellate court overturned the ban on the Republican efforts to challenge individual voters in Ohio. Hopefully this will only increase targeted voters' resolves as has seemed to be the case so far, but if this comes down to the wire in Ohio and this challenging business turns out to have some impact, then we are in for another round of mega-litigation. Great. More from the NYT:

The ruling, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, reversed two lower courts that had blocked the challenges just a day before. It also came as squadrons of lawyers from both parties in Ohio and other swing states from Pennsylvania to Florida to New Mexico were preparing for Election Day skirmishes that will include using arcane laws that allow challenges at the polls.

The lawyer for a pair of Cincinnati civil rights activists who had challenged the Republican plans to challenge voters said he would appeal Tuesday morning's decision to the United State Supreme Court.

But it appeared likely that when Ohio polls open, the Republicans would be able to put 3,500 challengers inside polling places around the state. Democrats also planned to send more than 2,000 monitors to the polls, though they said those people would not challenge voters.

That's because, uh, we like democracy.

No retreat, no surrender

For those of you not on the list, John Kerry sent out his final pre-Election Day email today:

During this campaign I have asked you for so much -- your time, your energy, and your financial support. Today, I ask you for one final thing -- your vote.

Tomorrow, Americans will face a choice.

How will we find our way forward? How will we keep America safe, and keep the American dream alive?

I believe we begin by giving this country we love a fresh start. This morning, I would like to give you as a plainly as I can the summary of my case on how -- together -- we can change America.

I believe we begin by moving our economy, our government, and our society back in line with our best values.

I believe we do whatever it takes to lead our troops to success and bring them home safe. And when they do come home, I believe we begin by rebuilding an America with a strong middle class where everyone has the chance to work and the opportunity to get ahead.

Tomorrow, you can choose a fresh start. You can choose a president who will defend America and fight for the middle-class.

You can choose between four more years of George Bush's policy to ship jobs overseas and give tax breaks to the companies that do it -- or a president who will reward the companies that create and keep good jobs here in the United States of America.

Tomorrow you will face a choice between four more years of George Bush's giveaways to the big drug companies and the big HMOs -- or a president who will finally make health care a right, and not a privilege, for every American.

This election is a choice between four more years of tax giveaways for millionaires along with a higher tax burden for you -- or a president who will cut middle-class taxes, raise the minimum wage, and make sure we guarantee women an equal day's pay for an equal day's work.

Tomorrow, America faces a choice between four more years of an energy policy for big oil, of big oil, and by big oil -- or a president who finally makes America independent of Mideast oil in ten years. A choice between George Bush's policy that just yesterday showed record profits for oil companies and record gas prices for American consumers. I believe that America should rely on our own ingenuity and innovation, not the Saudi Royal family.

Tomorrow this campaign will end. The election will be in your hands. If you believe we need a fresh start in Iraq; if you believe we can create and keep good jobs here in America; if you believe we need to get health care costs under control; if you believe in the promise of stem cell research; if you believe our deficits are too high and we're too dependent on Mideast oil then I ask you to join me and together we'll change America.

I ask for your vote and I ask for your help. When you go to the polls bring your friends, your family, your neighbors. No one can afford to stand on the sidelines or sit this one out.

And in return for your hard work, you have my commitment to always fight for you, to always be on your side. In the words of Bruce Springsteen that have become the theme of this campaign. "We've made a promise we swore we'd always remember...no retreat and no surrender."

Tomorrow we will change America and with your help I will always keep that promise to you.

Thank you,

John Kerry

Let's go kick some Bush butt, folks!

More voter disenfranchisement

From Daily Kos, a good roundup of the latest GOP-led voter suppression efforts.

In a letter, Berkeley County clerk John Smalls cites calls from a cell phone were made to Eastern Panhandle democrats telling them that they were not registered to vote. The letter also said the calls informed democrats in some cases they wouldn`t be able to vote on Election Day [...]

It's considered an improper act because when upset citizens called the voter registration office to make sure they were registered to vote, indeed they were. So, who made these misleading calls? The Berkeley County Clerk`s Office traced the number voters gave as the source back to the Eastern Panhandle Republican Headquarters.

I hope this comes back to bite the Republican leadership in the ass. You hear me, Karl? You're going to get your just desserts.

I mean, if you're going to do something like this-
-at least read The Onion first.

Game Time

Barring any last minute developments, we should now have a pretty good idea of who's going to win the Presidential election tomorrow.

Except we don't.

Virtually everyone is saying the contest (at least in the popular vote) is a dead even one at the moment. However, as you'll notice if you look to your right, at the moment the swing states are slightly predisposed towards Kerry (5% or so according to Gallup) but everything depends on voter turnout in those states and on the success or failure of the GOP minority voter suppression efforts (currently being investigated in my home state, South Carolina). The good news is that not everyone is being intimidated by these efforts [via TPM]:

My job is to get people to the polls and, more importantly, to keep them there. Because they’re crazily jammed. Crazily. No one expected this turnout. For me, it’s been a deeply humbling, deeply gratifying experience. At today’s early vote in the College Hill district of East Tampa -- a heavily democratic, 90% African American community — we had 879 voters wait an average of five hours to cast their vote. People were there until four hours after they closed (as long as they’re in line by 5, they can vote).

Here’s what was so moving:

We hardly lost anyone. People stood outside for an hour, in the blazing sun, then inside for another four hours as the line snaked around the library, slowly inching forward. It made Disneyland look like speed-walking. Some waited 6 hours. To cast one vote. And EVERYBODY felt that it was crucial, that their vote was important, and that they were important.

I hope this scene is repeated across the country.

I'm sure you'll all agree, we are in the final days of the election of our lifetimes. Everyone has worked so hard, I dearly hope it all pays off. On a personal note, I would be happy to have this site become irrelevant through lack of a target.

Helen Thomas on a Bush win

Legendary veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas, who famously was excluded from the Bush White House press room for openly criticizing Bush, has reflected on the past four years and summed up her feelings on what another Bush term would mean:

The presidential election on Tuesday is one of the most crucial in American history.

There are many reasons -- in foreign policy and on the domestic front -- why President George W. Bush should not be reelected.

Among them is the dominance of the radical right in his advisory councils, who are taking the United States down the wrong road at the start of the 21st century.

The road could lead to more mindless wars abroad and a widening gap between the rich and the poor in this country.

There will be only one way to read the election results if Bush wins: The world will see his victory as an affirmation by the American people of his disastrous preemptive war policy, which led the United States to invade Iraq without provocation.

More here....

Bin Laden Bombshell

I can't help thinking this Bin Laden tape is extremely bad news for John Kerry.

The way he invokes Kerry's name as if they're on the same side... That's not good. And remember the studies about the correlation between the terror alerts and Bush's approval rating (there is always a boost 3 to 4 days later)? Well this seems to me to be a similar animal. It refocuses people's mind on an imminent terrorist threat, after all.

And despite seeming to condemn Bush, Bin Laden knows that this tape is more likely to help his reelection efforts - which is a good thing, at least for Bin Laden. Four more years of arrogant crusading by Bush can only swell the ranks of al Qaeda's membership. Iraq is already a huge recruitment poster; what else can be done given another term? And this faux-victimisation, invoking Beirut and the Palestinian issues as justification for 9/11, is so disingenuous as to not merit further discussion.

I don't know; I am truly worried by this latest turn of events. Damn Bin Laden, damn him again. Would someone please shut him up for good?

Update

Then again, Josh Marshall suggests we should all slap each other back to our senses and keep the side up. Well, alllllright.

BC04: Fear Kerry

Well they've gone and done it. The Bush campaign have hit a new low.

John Kerry = Twin Towers in Flames.

Bush Invents Irony: Kerry's Revenge

Remember that classic Dubya quote from yesterday, about not wanting someone who jumped to conclusions in the White House? Well good on the Kerry folks, they wasted no time turning the quote around and using it to some effect:

Bush on Wednesday accused Kerry of opportunism, saying: "A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as commander in chief ... that is part of a pattern of a candidate who will say anything to get elected."

Kerry threw the words back at the president 24 hours later, announcing he was going "to apply the Bush standard" and declaring: "Mr. President, I agree with you."

"George Bush jumped to conclusions about 9/11 and Saddam Hussein," he said. "George Bush jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction and he rushed to war without a plan for the peace. George Bush jumped to conclusions about how the Iraqi people would receive our troops. He not only jumped to conclusions, he ignored the facts he was given."

Attaboy, John!

Your last chance to contribute

In the assumption that most of you get these emails from Kerry / Edwards anyway, I don't tend to repost them. But I think today's message from John Edwards bears repeating:

What kind of country do we want to wake up to on November 3?

That's the question each of us must ask ourselves as we enter the final 36 hours of the most important fundraising drive in Democratic Party history.

It is hard to imagine America making a choice that could matter more than this one -- not just because the contest is so close, but because the differences between the candidates are so stark. Make no mistake about it, four more years of George W. Bush in the White House would spell disaster on many of the issues that you and I care about the most.

That's why, whatever issues you care about, you must have one overriding priority right now -- helping win powerful, persuasive victories for John Kerry and other Democratic candidates five days from now.

Our final fundraising deadline of the campaign is tomorrow night:

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

If you're concerned about making America stronger and more respected in the world, we need you to step forward now. If you believe that turning a blind eye to the mistakes President Bush has made will only deepen our dilemma in Iraq, we need you to step forward now.

If you think that President Bush's obsession with tax cuts for the wealthy is risking our economic future, we need you to step forward now. If you know we can do better creating jobs and solving America's health care problems, we need you to step forward now.

If you want to protect the future of Social Security, we need you to step forward now. If you want to safeguard the balance and integrity of the Supreme Court, we need you to step forward now. If you realize that four more years of Bush's environmental assaults will devastate America's natural resources, we need you to step forward now.

Step forward now:

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

Here's the reality. Whatever issues you care about, whichever concerns are closest to your heart, the single most important step you can take right now is helping John Kerry and other Democratic candidates win on November 2. Let's not wake up on November 3 realizing that you could have made all the difference in the world.

Thank you,

John Edwards

Was your vote influenced by the foreign media?

The BBC Online Magazine has a piece today that asks:

American expats in Britain are choosing their president. Can they help but be influenced by widespread anti-Bush feeling in Europe?

That seems like an easy answer to me (of course we are influenced by it) but I suppose it may depend on the individual. More from the article:

Whatever their differences, the Republican and Democrat campaign teams are agreed on one thing - the British media.

"The press is definitely more pro-Kerry than pro-Bush," says Sharon Manitta of Democrats Abroad UK.

"We get to see more news stories that have a definite slant than the right wing, sadly, mainstream media in America."

Can't argue with that one. Check out the rest of the article for some vox pops with various UK-based expats of both political persuasions.

Make Your Vote Count

The fine folks (well, the DNC) that brought you OverseasVote2004 (remember the banner ad that was here until yesterday?) have not contented themselves with just getting people registered to vote. They've launched a new site, Make Your Vote Count (http://www.myvotecounts2004.com/) which asks you to fill in some details about how and when you sent in your ballot, so that they can:

compile a list by county and state of overseas voters. This list will be used by Voter Enforcement officials at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to cross-check lists of voters whose ballots have been received by local election officials.

Bearing in mind all the irregularity and outright dirty tricks being pulled in this election so far (and we haven't even gotten to Election Day yet!) I can get behind this effort 100%, and I urge you all to fill in your details to ensure that your vote is counted. Remember, in a race this tight, your vote definitely counts.

Florida: The Land Where Every Vote Counts™

So the whole world knows that Florida has had its fair share of problems with counting votes. And the whole world knows that, despite having had four years to sort out its mess, problems still abound, from glitchy paperless electronic voting machines to rampant voter suppression.

But this article from the BBC is just shocking, and it affects expats most directly. Broward County, north of Miami, was to deliver 60,000 absentee ballots for this election. How many have been delivered? 2000.

The missing ballots have fuelled an atmosphere of intense suspicion in Florida, with Democrats already backing nine separate law suits in the state, says the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.

If the result is close and decides the result in the presidential race - and both of those eventualities are perfectly likely - it seems virtually certain that protracted legal battles would follow, our correspondent says.

[...]

In 2000, Broward gave Al Gore his biggest margin among Florida counties. He won 67% of the vote there, while losing the state to George W Bush.

"It looks like they're trying to steal the vote again," said Diane Glasser, vice-chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.

Both the Democrats and Republicans have already begun filing lawsuits in states across America, challenging different aspects of the election process.

Whether or not this turns out to be a GOP-led effort, it is undeniable that right across our nation, Republicans are making a mockery of our democracy. History will show how underhanded and devious the GOP has been, that the very party that stands for traditional values and the American Way is undercutting the democratic process it purports to defend. Sure the Democrats are no angels, but there's getting the vote out and then there's interfering with democracy. There should be more outrage. Where is it?

Bush invents irony

Apparently Dubya just responsed to a question about Kerry's criticism of the whole al Qaqaa explosives thing (specifically, Bush & Co.'s "unthinkable incompetence" pertaining to the loss and the war in general).

Bush's response, finally, after 3 days of questions, was this witty rejoinder:

A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not who you want as commander in chief.

What?

Boy, wake up and smell what you shovelin'.

[via Washington Monthly]

The Onion's guide to Election Day

In case you have any Stateside relatives that may be feeling a bit intimidated by going and voting on Election Day, The Onion comes to the rescue with some handy tips on how to make the process easier, including some of these valuable and relevant gems:

• If at all possible, vote before work. That way, you can make smug comments to non-voters all day long.
  
• The new electronic voting machines are complicated. But don't worry: Octogenarians will be on hand to troubleshoot any technological problems that might arise.
  
• If your election official hooks you up to a machine via a needle in your arm, you are actually donating blood.
  
• Tip for those on the go: Voting a straight ticket can save you up to 15 seconds.

Speaking of Election Day, you may have noticed that I removed the banner ad for Overseas Vote 2004 - the absentee ballot request form is a bit pointless now - and also the "Vote in 2004" section to the right. Unless you are sending in a lastminute Write In Ballot by fax or through FedEx, you really should have cast your vote by now.

No Bush site for you!

Not that I think there's anything nefarious to it (it is probably cost- and traffic-related as the author supposes) but the BBC has a story pointing out that none of us overseas folks (including 6 million of us expats) can get to GeorgeWBush.Com, the official campaign site, since Monday morning. Try it out for yourself.

Expats flying home to vote

Amid continuing concerns about late, missing, or plain incorrect absentee ballots, apparently there are a handful of us expats who are making sure our votes will count - by flying back to the States to vote in person:

While some are making frantic calls to state voting offices or groups representing overseas Democrats or Republicans, others have decided the only solution is to fly to the United States.

"George W. Bush is not the right man for the job and that's why I'm paying to get on a plane to make sure I get over and vote," said B. Carter Looney, 39, a U.S. businessman who lives near Frankfurt.

"There's more to the world than just the United States," said Looney, who will spend 26 hours airborne for just three days in Arizona before returning Tuesday after voting.

Looney, overseas for 17 years, voted in every contest before 2000, but said he felt ill for a long time after missing the last election because his absentee ballot arrived too late.

"I vowed it wouldn't happen again," he said.

With all the hubbub about voting irregularities and post-election legal squabbling this year, who can blame them?

In fact, there are a couple of pieces on this subject you should check out. The NYT's piece, on the possible impact of the new "provisional ballots", makes me a bit nervous:

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 allows voters whose names cannot be found on local rolls to cast provisional ballots, with election officials making a decision later about whether the vote should count. Election lawyers now say that those ballots could determine the outcome in a handful of states where the presidential race is expected to be extremely close.

But because those ballots will have to be considered one by one, there is a real possibility that the outcome of the presidential election will not be known on the morning of Nov. 3 and that it will again turn on court decisions, say election law specialists tracking more than a half-dozen thorny legal issues in the swing states.

"We could be within the margin of litigation in all 10 or 11," said Edward B. Foley, who teaches election law at Ohio State University.

Yeeks.

And if that didn't cheer you up enough, the Washington Post has a lovely article on the possible implications of another post-election tussle:

We don't need a repetition of Florida, perhaps on a grander scale. The danger is not simply a delay in knowing who the next president is, or the prospect that he'll be hampered in governing, or the probable fury of the loser's supporters that the election was "stolen." The more unsettling danger is that, having engaged in two rounds of post-election combat, party warlords will make this a permanent part of the political process.

Election by litigation is a sensationally bad idea. Undertaken piously to guarantee voters' "rights" or to prevent "fraud," it would erode popular confidence in elections' integrity. We'd be bombarded (as we already are) by endless complaints about how compromised or corrupt voting practices have become. Sooner or later, many Americans might cynically conclude that the side with the busiest poll watchers, cleverest lawyers and friendliest judges had secured an unfair advantage

No wonder the networks are being extra-cautious this year. Once bitten... twice shy.

E Minus 7

(thanks to Wonkette for the title inspiration)

Wow. A week to go. It's been a long, hard campaign and it's been bitterly fought, but we should start to have an idea of how the chips are going to fall by the end of this week (some of us, of course, already know). Then again, we could have another nailbiter.

I will be posting some more thoughts later today, but here's a bit of a random link. If you've got time, go check out the new Eminem video. Yes, I know. The video is worth watching though, as if this is what's going out to the kids 1 week before the election then it raises my spirits a bit. I've gained a bit more respect for Mr Mathers.

Happy Birthday to Us

In all the excitement of the runup to the election (next week! gulp) I plum forgot that October 20th was the 1st anniversary of the launch of Expats Against Bush.

Before we get into the final week melée that is this election, I want to thank all of you who have visited the site, commented, helped out at meetings and come out to demonstrate over the past year. You guys rock.

And let us hope our efforts have not been in vain. I think by this time next week (Election Eve) we may all have ulcers (on both sides of the fence).

By the way, I will be going to the US Embassy election night party on, well, election night. From what I've heard it's a bit of a knees-up with lots of US and UK politicos hobknobbing, but I've also heard from an FT reporter that in most cases everyone gets too wobbly too early and almost nobody actually makes it through to hear the results. I have some serious doubts that they will have even called the election by the end of the week, let alone Tuesday night. Nevertheless, it should be an interesting event, and I can't get over the image in my head of a high school dance with two factions hugging each wall and only the occasional brave soul venturing into the middle to converse awkwardly with the others. I will of course fill you in.

Bush Supporters Misinformed; Film at 11

Remember that report a while back from PIPA that claimed that Fox viewers were consistently misinformed on basic issues? They've come out with another one(PDF here), and it's a doozy [via Washington Monthly]:

Even after the final report of Charles Duelfer to Congress saying that Iraq did not have a significant WMD program, 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD (47%) or a major program for developing them (25%). Fifty-six percent assume that most experts believe Iraq had actual WMD and 57% also assume, incorrectly, that Duelfer concluded Iraq had at least a major WMD program. Kerry supporters hold opposite beliefs on all these points.

Similarly, 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda, and 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has been found. Sixty percent of Bush supporters assume that this is also the conclusion of most experts, and 55% assume, incorrectly, that this was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission. Here again, large majorities of Kerry supporters have exactly opposite perceptions.

[...]

This tendency of Bush supporters to ignore dissonant information extends to other realms as well. Despite an abundance of evidence--including polls conducted by Gallup International in 38 countries, and more recently by a consortium of leading newspapers in 10 major countries--only 31% of Bush supporters recognize that the majority of people in the world oppose the US having gone to war with Iraq. Forty-two percent assume that views are evenly divided, and 26% assume that the majority approves. Among Kerry supporters, 74% assume that the majority of the world is opposed.

Similarly, 57% of Bush supporters assume that the majority of people in the world would favor Bush's reelection; 33% assumed that views are evenly divided and only 9% assumed that Kerry would be preferred. A recent poll by GlobeScan and PIPA of 35 of the major countries around the world found that in 30, a majority or plurality favored Kerry, while in just 3 Bush was favored. On average, Kerry was preferred more than two to one.

"57% of Bush supporters assume that the majority of people in the world would favor Bush's reelection"

O my expat brethren, let us reflect on that one for a moment.

Even on Bush's own policies, the report says, Bush's supporters are not exactly on the ball:

Bush supporters also have numerous misperceptions about Bush's international policy positions. Majorities incorrectly assume that Bush supports multilateral approaches to various international issues--the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (69%), the treaty banning land mines (72%)--and for addressing the problem of global warming: 51% incorrectly assume he favors US participation in the Kyoto treaty. After he denounced the International Criminal Court in the debates, the perception that he favored it dropped from 66%, but still 53% continue to believe that he favors it. An overwhelming 74% incorrectly assumes that he favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. In all these cases, majorities of Bush supporters favor the positions they impute to Bush. Kerry supporters are much more accurate in their perceptions of his positions on these issues.

In other words, many Bush supporters will be going to the polls on November 2nd to vote for a phantom Bush that is beloved the world over, who has not put a foot wrong, who never lied about a thing, and who really really is the Compassionate Conservative he wants us all to believe he is.

Bzzzt! Next.

PS this table of results from the report is worth contemplating in its own window.

Salon: Suppressing the Overseas Vote

Salon.com has a fairly alarming article about potentially large numbers of us expats who could either not get their votes in in time, or else find that their ballots (official or write-in) might simply not be counted by the election boards. Like many of you, my Absentee Ballot never arrived so I had to request a Federal Write In Ballot from Democrats Abroad. Salon writes about that scenario, and it ain't pretty:

But the program's record does not inspire much confidence. Indeed, voters contacting officials to ask about the ballot have been shocked at the ignorance they've encountered. In Nepal, one embassy worker said the ballot could be mailed from the United States, which it cannot; in Chester County, Pa., an election supervisor had no idea what it was. Says Wright of the Military Voting Rights Project: "Nobody has ever heard of it. The FVAP does show up at meetings and presentations, but I bet a lot of the 5,000 election officials don't go to those meetings, judging from the very basic questions we get back."

While waiting for the FVAP to act, both parties gyrated over the Internet. AOK put up its own version online with the disclaimer that no one knew if such ballots would be accepted; Democrats Abroad and the two main registration Web sites did not. Republicans Abroad then snitched the AOK form, without the disclaimer, and put it on its site, only to shamefacedly pull it off when told that, until the FVAP formally approved it, nobody could use the darn thing. AOK finally sent out 25,000 hard copies at its own expense to voters from swing states who'd signed up on the Overseas Vote 2004 Web site.

It then tackles the ever-prickly question of which way the expat vote chips will fall:

Which way these hordes of new voters go is, in fact, the big overseas question -- assuming they get to vote. Democrats and Republicans alike see gold in both the civilian and military camps. What's undisputed is that the Bush administration has galvanized overseas voters as never before. "The entire world is against Bush, and we reflect that view that America has lost all its credibility abroad," says McQueen of Democrats Abroad. "I was tired of cringing in the supermarket whenever I spoke English to my kids, knowing how much we as Americans were hated," says Dzieduszycka-Suinat. Hills, for her part, reports that many Republicans, angered at what they see as unjust attacks, are coming out in equal droves to support the president. On both sides, stories abound of older Americans, and dual citizens who've kept their American passports, emerging like Rip Van Winkle to vote for the first time in 30 or 40 years.

In reality, the political affiliation of these voters is unknown. Both sides claim a 60 percent edge: Democrats, based on a Zogby study, say that Americans with passports tend to vote liberal. Republicans, meanwhile, cite international business and the conservatism of Pentagon civilian employees and soldiers. Yet both estimates are what military people call SWAG -- scientific wild-ass guesses -- about a woolly and ever-growing overseas population of civil servants, diplomats, employees of global businesses, students, journalists, artists, academics and, yes, soldiers on the battlefield.

Bush's Faith

You may already have seen this, but in case you haven't you should check out Ron Suskind's article in the NYT Magazine from Sunday, a scary look inside the inner circle at the White House and how faith-based instinctive decision-making has totally brushed aside reality:

And for those who don't get it? That was explained to me in late 2002 by Mark McKinnon, a longtime senior media adviser to Bush, who now runs his own consulting firm and helps the president. He started by challenging me. ''You think he's an idiot, don't you?'' I said, no, I didn't. ''No, you do, all of you do, up and down the West Coast, the East Coast, a few blocks in southern Manhattan called Wall Street. Let me clue you in. We don't care. You see, you're outnumbered 2 to 1 by folks in the big, wide middle of America, busy working people who don't read The New York Times or Washington Post or The L.A. Times. And you know what they like? They like the way he walks and the way he points, the way he exudes confidence. They have faith in him. And when you attack him for his malaprops, his jumbled syntax, it's good for us. Because you know what those folks don't like? They don't like you!'' In this instance, the final ''you,'' of course, meant the entire reality-based community.

Debate 3: Kerry wins, Bush gaffes

Although the BBC said it was a draw this morning, a quick visit to the Washington Monthly site has a breakdown of the polls:

• CNN/USA Today/Gallup: Kerry wins 53%-39%.
• CBS News poll of uncommitted voters: Kerry wins 39%-25%
• ABC News: Kerry wins 42%-41%, even though their audience leaned heavily Republican.
• Democracy Corps: Kerry wins 41%-36%

Seems like Kerry is bound to get a boost off this.

The big story of the debate, at least in left-leaning circles, is the complete reality-denial attempt when Bush tried to convince us he always had his eye on the ball when it came to hunting down Osama [via TPM]:

Kerry accurately quoted Bush as saying he does not think much about Osama bin Laden and is not all that concerned about him. The president protested: "I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations."

But in March 2002, Bush indeed said, "I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run." He described the terrorist leader as "marginalized," and said, "I just don't spend that much time on him."

It can't be too long before a video comes out of this. I just hope it contains the words "flip" and "flop".

Bush: Master Debater. Well, in 1994.

Wow! Take a look at this Quicktime comparison of Bush's debate style from the 1994 Texas Governor's race with that of today. There is a marked difference, I think you'll agree.

What the heck happened in ten years?

Hunting for Republicans in Paris

Just to take a break from our usual Bush bashing, I thought I'd point you towards an interesting article I found on Slate when I was looking around for some expat-related news. It details the author's quest to find some Republicans abroad in Paris, and what a mission it was (compared with finding Democrats, in any case):

Republican organizers have claimed, and several newspapers have dutifully reported, that they, too, are seeing an increase in overseas voter turnout, so I went looking for evidence. The Republicans Abroad Web site was a lost cause, a stark contrast to the Democrats Abroad site, which lists hundreds of activities in dozens of countries. In Paris alone, a Democrat can attend, in the next month, casual cafe meet-ups, elegant fund-raising dinners with guests-of-honor like author Diane Johnson (Le Divorce), a screening of Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, and after-midnight parties to watch the presidential debates live.

All I could find on the Republican site was an e-mail address for the chairman of Republicans in France, who didn't reply to my missive. A call to someone listed as serving on the group's executive committee also went unreturned.

The night after Man Ray, I went to an officially bipartisan event at the American University in Paris. About 150 Americans turned up to watch a panel of three journalists discuss the election. CNN's Jim Bitterman kicked things off with an informal poll. First he asked how many people in the room were going to vote for Kerry, and virtually everyone raised a hand. Bitterman then asked who was voting for Bush, and four hands went up. He asked how many in the audience were Republicans voting for Kerry, and about five people raised hands.

Debate 2: Momentum

At this moment in time, and for the first time in ages, Electoral-Vote.com is putting John Kerry ahead in the Electoral College, 280-239. Most polls are now indicating either a statistical dead heat or a slight lead for Kerry.

And with today's disappointing job numbers, tonight's debate on the economy should prove Bush an easy target for some well-placed barbs from Kerry.

I just hope he nails Bush to the wall.

As they say in England, Go on my son!

Important Note on Absentee Ballots

Folks, if you're like me and haven't received your absentee ballot (and according to the straw poll a couple of days ago, only 33% of our respondents have actually gotten theirs) then it's time to request a Federal Write In Ballot. I'll pass you over to Jamie Dumas of Democrats Abroad for the next steps, but before I do you should ensure that, even if you're in possession of an absentee ballot, you are voting for the right person.

Over to Jamie now:

To make sure that your vote is counted you should mail your absentee ballot as soon as possible. If you have not yet received your absentee ballot you should request a Federal Write-In Ballot.

You are eligible to use a Federal Write-In Ballot if:

* You requested your absentee ballot using the federal voting application form. (If you obtained a form from Democrats Abroad, the OverseasVote2004.com site, or from the Federal Voting Assistance Program site you used this form.)

* AND your form was sent in time to be received by October 2. (If you faxed your form before October 2 and posted the original as instructed then you are also eligible.)

You can request a Federal Write-In Ballot from Democrats Abroad (voting2004@aol.com) or the Federal Voting Assistance Program (http://www.fvap.gov/).

You should mail your Federal Write-In Ballot as soon as you receive it. If you subsequently receive your official absentee ballot you should also send that in as quickly as possible. The local election officials know to only count your Federal Write-In Ballot if they do not receive a regular absentee ballot from you.

Below are instructions for completing your Federal Write-In Ballot.

If you have any questions please email voting2004@aol.com.

Thank you for making sure that your vote is counted,

--Jamey

Federal Write-In Ballot Instructions (After the Break)

VP Debate: Cheney Lies, News at 11

I must admit I haven't watched the VP debate in full, nor have I been much inclined to - from all accounts it was a pretty predictable affair, with neither candidate standing out as the clear winner nor doing himself much of a disservice.

However, the media (for once) seems to be rather on the ball in one respect: they all agree that Cheney told some pretty barefaced lies during his responses. Newsweek even went so far as to write a whole feature on it. The most egregious claim (straight from the "black is white, up is down" school) was that he never said there was a link between Saddam and al-Qaeda. Oh, come on!. He's got big brass ones, that's for sure:

Cheney, challenged by Edwards, insisted last night that “I have not suggested there’s a connection between Iraq and 9/11.” But that claim is belied by an array of interviews and public comments in which Cheney has done precisely that—by repeatedly invoking claims that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta had met in Prague with an Iraqi intelligence agent. That allegation was also debunked by the 9/11 commission after the panel found abundant evidence that Atta was actually in the United States at the time the rendezvous supposedly took place.

Kevin Drum at the Washington Monthly has also compiled a point by point rebuttal of Cheney's misstatements. Check it out.

Expats: Have you received your ballot yet?

As we are now at the cutoff point for new voter registration in most cases, I thought I'd do a straw poll and see how many of you expats have received their absentee ballots. I haven't received mine yet despite sending in my FPCA months ago.

How about you guys? Let us know, yea or nay, have you received your absentee ballot yet?

I have created a special poll on the EAB Forums to track your responses. Please take a moment and add your 2 cents.

We have a race again!

According to Newsweek, Kerry's strong performance in Thursday's debate has erased Bush's lead:

Removing Independent candidate Ralph Nader, who draws 2 percent of the vote, widens the Kerry-Edwards lead to three points with 49 percent of the vote versus the incumbent’s 46 percent. Four weeks ago the Republican ticket, coming out of a successful convention in New York, enjoyed an 11-point lead over Kerry-Edwards with Bush pulling 52 percent of the vote and the challenger just 41 percent.

We still have some way to go on a state-by-state basis according to the Electoral College Predictor site, but state-by-state polling is necessarily going to lag behind nationwide polling, so I expect to see a post-debate "bounce" for Kerry in the next few days.

If you're wondering how Kerry was able to prepare so well for the debate and come off so, well, directly, comedian Harry Shearer imagines what might have gone on in a pre-debate prep session.

If you're wondering why Bush did so badly, maybe it's because he's starting to sound like a broken record, even to his own folks.

On a side note, I notice our conservative brethren have vanished from this site in the wake of the debates. Hmmm. Off to drown their sorrows? Regrouping for a new round of denial? The mind boggles.

Debate 1: Not quite a floor-wiping, but close

Kerry just edged out Bush, but then again that's me talking.

I had to guffaw a couple of times as Bush misspoke:

BUSH: But to say that there's only one focus on the war on terror doesn't really understand the nature of the war on terror.

Of course we're after Saddam Hussein -- I mean bin Laden. [itals mine]

Oops! Did I say Saddam? Heh, heh. Aw, you know what I mean!

Kerry's response was classic:

KERRY: The president just talked about Iraq as a center of the war on terror. Iraq was not even close to the center of the war on terror before the president invaded it.

The president made the judgment to divert forces from under General Tommy Franks from Afghanistan before the Congress even approved it to begin to prepare to go to war in Iraq.

Earlier on, even Kerry had to guffaw:

LEHRER: New question, two minutes, Senator Kerry.

"Colossal misjudgments." What colossal misjudgments, in your opinion, has President Bush made in these areas?

KERRY: (laughs) Well, where do you want me to begin?

But I nearly spat out my coffee when I saw this:

KERRY: And long before President Bush and I get a tax cut -- and that's who gets it -- long before we do, I'm going to invest in homeland security and I'm going to make sure we're not cutting COPS programs in America and we're fully staffed in our firehouses and that we protect the nuclear and chemical plants.

[...]

LEHRER: Ninety-second response, Mr. President.

BUSH: I don't think we want to get to how he's going to pay for all these promises. It's like a huge tax gap. Anyway, that's for another debate.

My administration has tripled the amount of money we're spending on homeland security to $30 billion a year.[itals mine]

Mr Bush? You're talking about a gap between Kerry's tax plan and your spending plan? Pot, meet kettle. The fact that you then turn around and talk about tripling your spending in the same breath - well it just beggars belief. When is the shepherd's crook going to creep out from stage right and yank this idiot off?

Flip flopping, Cheney style

Oh, what a difference a decade or so makes:

"[H]ow many additional American casualties is Saddam worth?" Cheney said then in response to a question.

"And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the president made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq."
-Dick Cheney, 1992

This should be pretty good grist for the mill come next week's VP debate. Then again Cheney will probably argue that anyone asking him about his past is aiding America's enemies.

Debate 1: Will you watch?

"So, are you watching the debate?", ask my friends.

Ah, that old expat chestnut: whether to struggle on till the wee hours of the morning in a vain effort to stay on top of the latest developments in Campaign Land, or wait until I wake up to get the soundbite version?

I think, unfortunately, it will be the latter. Apparently there's little difference between the candidates' positions, and no way for them to make their arguments effectively even if there were.

Soundbites it is then. Rather, bleary and surreptitious perusal of CNN transcripts over a triple cappucino at work in the morning should suffice. By then the spin machine should be well and truly ramped up as well, saving any of us from having to judge for ourselves. Phew!

Expats: Make sure you are able to vote!

I got this reminder email from OverseasVote2004.Com, which I thought was useful enough to reproduce in its entirety:

Dear Overseas Voter,

It’s time for YOU to check that you are on the electoral rolls.
If you haven't received your ballot, or if you think there may have been a problem with
your voter registration/absentee ballot request, you should act now to verify that you
are on the electoral rolls.

We propose 2 methods for this: one local and one federal. With the unprecedented overseas
voter registration levels, the FVAP resources are stretched thin; therefore, you may
wish to start at the local level when confirming your registration.

1. Contact your local election official. These websites can help you locate the contact information:
http://www.vote-smart.org/voter_county_election_offices.php
or
http://www.fvap.gov/links/statelinks.html

OR

2. Send an email to vote@fvap.ncr.gov requesting confirmation that you are on the rolls.
Include:

* your name
* last U.S. residence address
* birth date
* last 4 digits of your social security number
* and a request for the Federal Write-In Ballot

If any of the following apply, you have even more reason to request the confirmation.
If you,

* are a first time voter
* have never lived in the US
* could not remember your complete address
* did not have any of the identification requested by your state
* are from a “swing state”
* mailed your form prior to the state primary, but did not receive a primary ballot

Act now – there is no time to waste!

The Overseas Vote 2004 Team

The New York Times also weighs in on the trials and tribulations of voting overseas today.

What if the US were like Iraq?

Now that the Kerry campaign has quite rightly brought its fury to bear on the Iraq situation - more specifically Bush's delusional mismanagement of it - Juan Cole confronts Bush's rosy outlook of the situation there by positing what the US would be like if it were in Iraq's shoes right now:

What if the grounds of the White House and the government buildings near the Mall were constantly taking mortar fire? What if almost nobody in the State Department at Foggy Bottom, the White House, or the Pentagon dared venture out of their buildings, and considered it dangerous to go over to Crystal City or Alexandria?

What if all the reporters for all the major television and print media were trapped in five-star hotels in Washington, DC and New York, unable to move more than a few blocks safely, and dependent on stringers to know what was happening in Oklahoma City and St. Louis? What if the only time they ventured into the Midwest was if they could be embedded in Army or National Guard units?

But that's not what Iraq is like, surely. Surely the CIA and all the other gloom merchants are just guessing. In fact, I can't help but wonder when the Iraqis are going to name that square after Bush. (both links courtesy of TPM)