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Le Figaro, France

Democrats in France

Impassioned Over

Party Primary Race

"The truth is we're on the front lines! ... Every time I open my mouth, someone wants me to talk about Bush!"

-- Joe Smallhoover, President of Democrats Abroad France

"Americans abroad want someone who will extend a hand to the rest of the world. We feel that the United States has alienated itself."

-- Constance Borde, Vice President of Democrats Abroad France

By Valérie Samson

Translated By Kate Davis

January 23, 2008

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)

Among the roughly 100,000 Americans living in France, only the Democrats have the right to participate in the primaries as expatriates.

VIDEO – A Parisian Party for Hillary Supporters

Just like Barack Obama has on the campaign trail, John Morris harangues the small crowd gathered in his apartment. But we're not in Paris, Texas or Paris, Maine, but in the capital of France. "How many of you are undecided?" Morris asks. At the meeting of about 80 American Democrats, less than a dozen hands go up. Many of those seem to be leaning toward Obama. "Americans abroad want someone who will extend a hand to the rest of the world. We feel that the United States has alienated itself," explained Constance Borde, Vice President of Democrats Abroad France .

The enthusiasm of Democrats in Paris for the Clinton-Obama match-up is matched only by the apathy that seems to characterize the Republican camp on this side of the Atlantic. For Democrats in France, the issue is mainly about figuring out where to vote. It's a question of strategy. When it comes to American elections, the issue quickly turns into a headache. They can either participate in the primaries as Americans abroad or vote in their last state of residence. On the one hand, there are those like John Morris, a militant Obama supporter, who thinks Americans abroad should speak with a single, united voice. And on the other, there are those who intend to make their vote count. The questions erupt around the room: "Where is my vote going to be most important?"

[Editor's Note: The Democrats abroad primary is on February 5th].

Everyone has an answer. "It seems to me that this is where my vote will count the most. If you vote in New York, your vote will be lost in the crowd." A militant says: "But couldn't we vote twice? Here and in our home state?" Laughter breaks out in the room. "I would remind you, that's a crime!" cautions Constance Borde.

These hesitations signal a conviction shared by many Americans abroad: that every vote count. There is here, like as the mother country, the same desire to reclaim the White House after eight years of Republican rule … the same feeling of witnessing a historic election and presenting for the first time, two minority candidates: a woman on one hand, a Black on the other.

'WE ARE ON THE FRONT LINES'

Whether pro-Clinton or pro-Obama, there are many events being held. They meet up every month at someone's house for meet-ups, where people come to learn how to vote, look for arguments to use to convince their friends, or to make up their own minds. They hold conference calls, during which activists from around the world, from London to Bangkok, debate. They organize fundraisers for their chosen champion. They discuss political ads and all the latest campaign developments on the other side of the Atlantic.

According to the United States Embassy, some 100,000 Americans live in France. There are six or seven million worldwide, the equivalent of the population of the state of Washington, the 13th most populous state in the union. Yet, while Washington will send 97 delegates to the Democratic Party convention which will meet in late August to nominate its candidate for the White House, while those abroad will elect only 22, who will only account for 11 votes. That's far fewer than the smallest state in the republic.

That's because Americans abroad are a community with shifting borders and whose concerns are not those of the American heartland. First of all, they come face to face with the effects of the Bush Administration's foreign policy. "The truth is we're on the front lines!" said Joe Smallhoover. "Every time I open my mouth, someone wants me to talk about Bush!" It's a great bother for the president of Democrats Abroad France.

On the Republican side, at the moment there is no campaign. Because unlike the Democrats, who make up a majority of Americans abroad, they don't have primaries reserved for expatriates. It's an issue of "philosophy," explains George Yates, President of Republicans Abroad France . "The goal of Republicans abroad is not to take the side of one person. We will campaign for the party's candidate once he has been officially nominated."

Nevertheless, some supporters of the Grand Old Party speak with passion, and sometimes with strong ambition, like the Association of Friends of the Republican Party, which on its Web site [French only ] urges that France return to, "its place alongside the democracies."

Click Here for French Version

[WM Posted Jan 26, 2008]