Americans Away From Home

A new member introduced himself to the London Obama Meetup last night.

"I'm from Iceland. There are 270 countries in this world. Who is the American President is important to these countries. Do Americans have any idea of that?"

Several British people longingly expressed wishes that they could vote for Obama.

One British man who had independently formed a group called "Labour 4 Obama" was a Labour Councillor. He stressed this is his own action, and it's not "Gordon Brown for Obama!"

"How can we help? What can we do?" one woman asked. "We know we are not allowed to contribute money to the campaign."

Several people, not from the U.S., seemed to be more familiar with the Federal Election Committee rules than most Americans may be.

People from other countries actively want to help Obama. One woman asked if non-US citizens could make calls to voters using the Obama Phone Bank. I'll have to ask the Obama campaign about that. She was sure the answer is no.

Later, the man from Iceland told me, "We were part of the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing'. We care deeply who the next U.S. President will be."

The website "Remember Poland" comes to mind.

But he's serious. Very.

In light of day, his voice is in my mind: "Do Americans know how many other countries care who becomes the U.S. President?"
 
Carole