It’s clear: the world wants Bernie Sanders
Tim Dowling
Wednesday 23 March 2016 14.48 EDT
As an American living abroad, I rarely think of myself as belonging to any sort of expat bloc, even though, taken together, we would constitute the 12th most populous state: there are 8.7 million US citizens living outside the country. I did, however, vote in the Democratic primary as part of this constituency.
Democrats Abroad will send 13 delegates (as well as eight superdelegates) to the Democratic convention, which is more than Wyoming. The results came in a few days ago, and Bernie Sanders is the winner.
He is, in fact, the overwhelming winner: 69% of the vote, to Clintons 31%, with just under 35,000 votes cast internationally. In the UK, which had the most overseas voters of any country, he gained 62%. Of seven expat Democrats in Afghanistan, five voted for Sanders and two for Clinton. She came top only in the Dominican Republic, Singapore and Nigeria.
Its hard to know what to make of this, so far-flung and generally unpolled is this particular subset of voters. Are Americans who go abroad more liberal, or do they become more liberal as a result? Two of my sons were old enough to vote in this primary both did and theyve never lived in the US.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/23/world-wants-bernie-sanders-overseas-democrats-hillary-clinton
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)Delagates and popular votes...over sanders....
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Don't count Florida and Ohio because it's a big country, but 35K ex-pats = the whole world? That is some amazing math you have going there.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)has voted yet. Thanks for stopping by just the same.
DavidDvorkin
(19,404 posts)brer cat
(24,401 posts)Beartracks
(12,761 posts)Wow, that is small.
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awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)the world doesn't appear to be voting in the primaries.
Igel
(35,191 posts)those who really don't want to be in America but keep American citizenship.
I guess those who leave are more loyal and more a part of America than those who stay.
(Meaning, of course, that the majority of "true Russians" are in the US and Israel, I guess.)
We should re-dub them "true pats" (for "true patriots" instead of "expats" for "expatriated." Then again, I guess both are insults, since "patria" is usually translated "fatherland," and only fascists refer to the fatherland.
Like Putin refers to the otechestvo "fatherland".
Omaha Steve
(99,069 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,349 posts)the option of voting abroad OR in MD, my US voting residence and actual part-time physical residence, I would just like to point out that there are actually several like me who may deliberately have chosen to vote absentee ballots from their voting residence instead of in the DA Global Primary. Of those, several are like me and would have voted for Hillary. Others would likely have voted for Bernie.
Also, of those who voted in the DA primary (there is NO Republican global primary), many were likely also Republicans who signed up as Democrats to vote and others may have been "independents" who voted. It is likely that both of those groups voted for Bernie.
I know that where I would have physically voted had I not chosen to vote in MD (Geneva, Switzerland), the actual vote talley was very close to even, although Sanders had a slight edge. In Geneva, we who are longtime Dems KNOW each other personally and thus it is very likely that there were fewer Republicans or independents (having become latter-day Dems solely for purposes of this primary) to skew the results.
It is true that those of us who live in countries where the government plays a large and generally effective role in managing health care, education, social benefits and transportation, among other things, generally love the quality of life in those countries. This experience may have affected some who genuinely voted FOR Bernie as opposed to being spoilers for Hillary.
But it is also true that those of us who are longtime Democrats view warily someone who only became a "Democrat" after years of refusing to do so and after years of criticizing the party. We may like him and what he says. But we have no basis to trust someone who has shown little institutional loyalty and who has only ever had to deal primarily with people who look and think like him.
My point here is: it is literally impossible to draw ANY conclusions whatsoever from the DA Global Primary outcome. Each person's experience is unique to that person. Period. That is all. Bernie won the primary and nine delegates. Congratulations to him! But please do not take this to mean in any way, shape, or form that "the world" wants Bernie Sanders.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,349 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,349 posts)only one on DU to take it seriously. "My side" - that means what exactly?
Are we not ALL on the same side? Or is it only some of us who believe that either of our two Dem candidates is a million times better than ANY GOPer?
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)We're not on the same side during a primary contest, not at all.
I will remind you what you said previously about Bernie and it was not flattering to him;
so lets not pretend we view them as equals. I have very set reasons why I am not
supporting Hillary in the primary. The contest is not yet complete, and only then will
we be on the same side. I vote against any Republican, not for your preferred candidate.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)I lived overseas a total of 35 years, and just want to say that the silly generalizations and conclusions the OP makes about the expat vote are totally bogus. The numbers alone contradict the "whole world" argument. The State Department estimates that there are between 3 and 6 million non-military expats living abroad. The fact is, the vast majority of expats don't vote in primaries.
BlueMTexpat
(15,349 posts)Bernie won this round of the DA vote and no one can take that away from him. But the generalizations and conclusions were indeed silly ones!
ADACH (the Swiss group) is actually one of the most active in trying to get Dems abroad to take US elections seriously. We have had some marvelous members - some now deceased, such as the late Andy Sundberg - who have constantly badgered US politicians about non-military expat concerns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Sundberg
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)just wanted to point that out
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)man of few w
(55 posts)Well, I guess Hillary should concede right now!