The expatriate view: Listening to foreigners' views of the US election is chastening, reports Will Sullivan.
Inside a small pub in the Donegal town of Bunbeg I'd just settled into a lively session on a stormy Friday evening when three men sitting to my left turned their chairs towards me, tabled up several pints and pointedly questioned me about the American election.
It wasn't exactly what I had in mind for my holiday weekend. As I'm learning in my time abroad though, discussing the current state of American politics is more of an obligation than it is a choice. As an American in a world increasingly critical of America, I've taken on the unlikely role of ambassador and if current international opinion regarding the US election is any indication, we need every one of the estimated 50,000 people living in the Republic to follow suit.
There is of course, a particularly unpopular name with which to answer in regards to the question of presidential voting preference, but the greater issue, that of the growing political divisions within the US has become the cornerstone of my stump speech.
Voting preference is an opinion after all, in that our right to cast a vote isn't always precipitated by a strong grasp of sound reasoning, logic, or even basic common sense behind the decision to support one candidate versus another. This is particularly poignant in this year's election because this race has revealed how divided the US has become in regards to the direction we hope our country treads into the future.
As an expatriate it's as difficult to understand what's driving the split from afar as I imagine it is at home. For when such emotions begin to take precedence in choosing a leader, there is often little regard paid towards temperance in popular political discourse. One man is bad for the country; the other bad for the world. Typically, these opinions vary across state lines, now one has only to cross the street.
It doesn't make it any easier that the US is embroiled in a protracted, and depending on who you talk to, very unpopular war. America has become, much to the chagrin of several of my countrymen, an occupying force in a conflict that was sold to the people on the basis of assumptions, yet, frighteningly, fought with the blind righteousness that sometimes assumptions combined with fledgling truths are what's needed to rule the people. Clearly, this neo-conservative philosophy is seriously missing the validity of some inherent good.
The pervasiveness of both US foreign and domestic policies obviously hasn't escaped the international community. More so than any other time in my life, when I travel, all anyone wants to know is what direction I think America is heading, and who I'll be voting for. The knowledge of the issues and perhaps more importantly, awareness of the consequence of electing one candidate over another is quite strong in Europe.
It's strange to feel the far-reaching ramifications of your country's election when overseas, and during a war, you have to be careful where you tread and sensitive to the ire of those who believe the American hegemony is spiralling out of control. A fine line has developed between those who differentiate between people and government when it comes to anti-Americanism, and defending my country increasingly takes precedence over explaining it.
Most places I travel I'm asked in a friendly manner which direction, which future I'll choose, but even when I'm accosted, I never tell people to mind their own business - because I feel the election in 2004 is the world's business.
From an American standpoint, the vote this year appears to be more of a referendum on George Bush than a contest between two qualified and able candidates. That sentiment runs deeper among Americans than many people might know. Bush hasn't done wonders for himself or his country's image abroad, often addressing the international community with the thinly disguised disdain of an embittered, overworked PR agent. His references to higher powers in all forms of governance have increased at an alarming rate.
The evidence behind his decision to go to war, the declining protection of civil liberties, his record on health care, taxation and the environment would seem to work overwhelmingly against his re-election. Bush's ardent supporters, though, believe that his convictions and his morals provide the strength the US needs, even if there is considerable evidence suggesting these beliefs haven't had positive results for the US or the world.
Records and stances on the issues aside, this election has become a contest to win hearts and minds of a divided populace and the split in the US highlighted by this election may be merely the first salvo in an internal war sure to rage for years within the country.
Watching that split grow from Dublin as the day arrives when America will decide its future, the feeling of being an expatriate is both desperate and hopeful. I'm relieved that I'm not in the US for the typically ugly final round of mudslinging that invariably accompanies the push towards election day.
I'm encouraged that conversations among friends and strangers alike include less of the conspiracy talk and aggressiveness that have burrowed deep into American political discourse as of late. Yet I feel desperate at the thought that many Europeans I've spoken to believe the consequences of a Yes vote for a president they believe has caused more harm than good will most certainly make the world increasingly divided and dangerous.
I fear that another election voting debacle is simmering beneath any final result. The media is rife with reports of missing expatriate votes, and the thousands of lawyers who are busy preparing lawsuits against unfavourable outcomes. If the 2000 election is any indication, that fear is valid and even last week, I found myself quadruple checking my absentee ballot.
In times of deep political divide such as our country is experiencing, our constitutional right to vote becomes more obligation than choice. After living abroad, the knowledge that our vote carries with it the ability to make a difference in the lives of all global citizens increases the weight of that responsibility.
Hopefully today we'll see the US electoral system in its finest hour, not embroiled in the humiliating and discrediting realms of litigation that tarnished the previous result. I hope that as an American, I can be proud of what transpires.
Will Sullivan is a native of Chicago where he completed a masters in journalism before embarking on a post graduate placement in The Irish Times until the end of the year.