Democrats Abroad is having their Global Primary from 2/5~2/12 and I just came from the Tokyo voting center. There was about 12 Japanese media people covering the event and there were even a few voters besides me casting their ballots.
If anyone is curious, the Japanese media seems to take their cues from big media in the US. Several of them asked me questions as I was leaving including:
- Who did I vote for? (Obama primarily because Edwards dropped out and broke my heart)
- Can Hillary win when she's so disliked? (I said I like her and yes, she can win, if for no other reason than the Republican candidates are incredibly lame and offer no substantive difference from Too-Stupid-to-be-President).
- Why didn't you vote for Hillary?
- Etc., etc., etc.
A few random thoughts...
The Democratic race seems to get far more coverage in Japan than the Republican race. Everyone knows Hillary & Obama. No one knows (or cares) about Romney & McCave.
Nonetheless, the Japanese media basically seems to be covering the campaign with brains on loan from Chris Matthews. I made sure to tell them even though I'm not a Hillary supporter now, I'd happily vote for her in the general election because the alternatives are horrible. The Dems are more likely to end the rudderless war, they're more likely to give us Universal Health Care - which I use in Japan and am a huge fan of - and they are less likely to pack the courts with right wing authoritarians.
CNN International covered one of our get-to-know-the-candidates events the other day. I represented Edwards and discovered he was dropping out after I returned home :-( But CNN, in their quest to drive a narrative forward, did a segment on Obama supporters who live overseas. I made sure after the Obama person spoke to the camera and got a round of applause to yell "Edwards!" right into the mic so hopefully the viewers realized that it wasn't simply a gathering of Obama fans.
Regarding Obama... if anyone reading has immigrant friends, is it just me or is Obama really popular among foreign-born Americans? I don't know so many immigrants but the few that I do know (from Africa & Asia) are enthusiastic & are some of his most eloquent supporters. Has anyone else noticed this?
FWIW, 20 minutes after the voting center opened here in Tokyo, one of the Japanese media guys had an 'exit poll' of sorts where we could affix a sticker under either Hillary's picture or Obama's picture to show who we voted for. After I attached my sticker, Obama was winning in a landslide: 2-0.
It seems Obama is ahead in Democrats Abroad Indonesia voting, also.
If you live overseas and didn't register in time to do online voting for the Global Primary, please try to make it to a physical voting center. Let the world hear your voice! And don't forget to request your ballot for the general election at the super-easy-to-use Democrats Abroad-created VoteFromAbroad.org website - NOW!
Apologies for the rambling diary. I just want everyone to get out and get active. We have a country to change and the world is watching.