View of Election Day from Across the pond...
So wish I could be in the U.S. today! To stand on line at the polls and pull a lever rather than check a box and dip in the royal mail (did receive Ab Ballott ... hope it gets in in time!). Just so you all know how important this is: every single person I have talked with today has asked me if I've voted. I hopped in a taxi this morning to go to a conference, just told the cabbie where I was headed. He heard my accent, and said "Did you vote?". Called my landlord to settle some issue about cable tv and the removal of a pouffe. Before discussing the issues, but after hello, it was "did you vote?" . I was the only American at a conference of 20 folks. The guy at the table next to me asked me where I worked and then, "Did you vote?". I made a comment during the conference about response to something he was saying about real estate yields and data information in the US versus Europe, he replied and then launched into the election ... including "Did you get a chance to vote?". Had a dinner meeting with a guy from the Vineyard who has been living in the UK for a while. First exchange? "Good to see you again? Did you do the absentee ballot?"
They don't know if I'm for Bush or Kerry, although when I say "I hope things go our way!", it's because I know what side they sit on. "This election affects us so much", my landlord's wife, and elderly british woman, says. The British cab driver knows all about the electoral college and how the states go and the supreme court, etc. If the world were having an election, this would be a no brainer.
I'm moved but also somewhat embarrased...because, and this included myself until about a month ago, I would be willing to lay down money that even my politically-minded friends, all of you smart, smart people, would be hard-pressed to name an active British politician other than Tony Blair. Let's hope our country doesn't embarrass itself further...
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