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Jefferson23

(30,099 posts)
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 08:07 PM Mar 2016

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 Clinton’s 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.

It’s 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 they’ve never lived in the US.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/23/world-wants-bernie-sanders-overseas-democrats-hillary-clinton

22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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It’s clear: the world wants Bernie Sanders (Original Post) Jefferson23 Mar 2016 OP
Florida and Ohio wants Hillary by much larger margins of beachbumbob Mar 2016 #1
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched...the US is a big country. n/t Jefferson23 Mar 2016 #2
lol brer cat Mar 2016 #4
That's not what I said. You probably noticed this is a very large country and not everyone Jefferson23 Mar 2016 #5
Berniemath. DavidDvorkin Mar 2016 #6
It explains a lot of things. brer cat Mar 2016 #7
35k out of more than 8 million? Beartracks Mar 2016 #3
Too bad... awoke_in_2003 Mar 2016 #8
But he has the majority of Igel Mar 2016 #18
K&R! Omaha Steve Mar 2016 #9
As an American expat who has BlueMTexpat Mar 2016 #10
Relax. lol Jefferson23 Mar 2016 #11
OK - but still ... BlueMTexpat Mar 2016 #14
It's a less than literal intended title..I am surprised by the responses from your side. n/t Jefferson23 Mar 2016 #15
It appears that I was not the BlueMTexpat Mar 2016 #16
Yea, it surprised me anyone took it literally. Jefferson23 Mar 2016 #17
Thanks, texpat for bringing back a measure of realism to this discussion. Nitram Mar 2016 #12
Thanks, Nitram! BlueMTexpat Mar 2016 #13
K&R vkkv Mar 2016 #19
Dems Abroad is not "the world" Blue_Tires Mar 2016 #20
See post 11 and 15. Just pointing that out too. n/t Jefferson23 Mar 2016 #21
"More than Wyoming"? man of few w Mar 2016 #22
 

beachbumbob

(9,263 posts)
1. Florida and Ohio wants Hillary by much larger margins of
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 08:15 PM
Mar 2016

Delagates and popular votes...over sanders....

brer cat

(24,401 posts)
4. lol
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 08:55 PM
Mar 2016

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)
5. That's not what I said. You probably noticed this is a very large country and not everyone
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 08:58 PM
Mar 2016

has voted yet. Thanks for stopping by just the same.

Igel

(35,191 posts)
18. But he has the majority of
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 01:15 PM
Mar 2016

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&quot 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".

BlueMTexpat

(15,349 posts)
10. As an American expat who has
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 02:12 AM
Mar 2016

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.

BlueMTexpat

(15,349 posts)
16. It appears that I was not the
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 04:11 PM
Mar 2016

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)
17. Yea, it surprised me anyone took it literally.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:23 PM
Mar 2016

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)
12. Thanks, texpat for bringing back a measure of realism to this discussion.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 11:00 AM
Mar 2016

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)
13. Thanks, Nitram!
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 11:58 AM
Mar 2016

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

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