i-sako.com

If our president were the newspaper-reading type (he’s not), he might find this news a bit worrisome. He’s managed to stir up a lot of anger among Americans living overseas. 

Far Across the Oceans, Pools of Voting Democrats

TOKYO, Feb. 8 ― The 80 chairs filled up a half-hour before the caucus was to start, as did two dozen more that were hastily brought into the back of the room, and then the chairs along both walls and the window ledges and the aisles in the 20th-floor meeting room overlooking the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

Before long, what the Japan chapter of Democrats Abroad really needed was one of those Tokyo transit workers who cram commuters into rush-hour subway cars.

“We had about 40 people show up for our caucuses in 1996 and 2000,” said John McCreery, vice chairman of Democrats Abroad and a 24-year resident of Japan. “We knew there was more interest this year, so we thought we’d get 80 people.”

Instead, 156 eager, percolating Democrats showed up Sunday at the meeting room of Tokyo’s Foreign Correspondents Club, the great majority of them attending their first overseas caucus and many voting in their first presidential election.

(That 156 includes your humble blogger and his friends Luis and UltraBob.)

Similar scenes are playing out in the more than 30 countries where Democrats are holding caucuses this weekend. The earliest was on Friday, the last on Monday night.

In Paris, caucus organizers had arranged for a meeting room adjacent to the American Church and expected 300 people. Instead, 800 showed up, and the caucus had to be moved into the church itself. Democrats in London, who normally have one of the biggest turnouts, do not know what to expect at their gathering Monday night.

Here in Tokyo, Mr. McCreery stood in front of the buzzing throng, waving his arms and trying to maintain order while someone ran next door to run off more ballots. They had not printed enough.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “We weren’t expecting so many people.”

“Neither is Bush!” shouted Christopher Shannon, 40, a software writer and former Green Beret who was waving a Howard Dean poster taped to a pink whiffle bat.

Sure, the expatriate vote might be “small potatoes,” as the NYT article puts it, but the fact that attendance is about four times what it has been in other election years is a clear sign. What can be read into it? Well, if you happen to be George W. Bush, probably nothing, but Karl Rove can’t be too happy about this.

Incidentally, I have heard rumors that the caucus will be featured on the local Channel 4 News on Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. If you happen to see it, keep an eye out for us!



Note: If you happen to be an American expat with an interest in politics, check out xpat.org. We’re always looking for contributors, even if you happen to like Bush—though it seems not many expats do.