keeping track of united states politics from afar is a bit like a long-distance love affair. it takes a bit of effort: if you aren't serious about staying involved, it's easy to throw in the towel and decide it isn't worth the investment. it's sometimes easy to feel disconnected and forgotten. but you also get the benefits from the "distance makes the heart grow fonder" adage--somehow, observing from across the ocean makes it all seem a bit more thrilling. you get the filtering of information over the miles, and see just that information you want (or in this case, the press wants you) to see. if you want to get more involved you can, but you can also skim along the surface, enjoying the independence the distance allows.
luckily, i have successful past experience in long-distance love affairs, and i'm similarly trying to use the distance to my advantage this election year.
i've registered to vote through absentee ballot. what surprised me with this process is that if you move internationally, they allow you to vote in state and local elections for your last us residence. for me, this is washington, and i get ballots for all minor elections, as well as the major ones. not only do they send absentee voters the ballot itself (in its very official double-sealed envelopes) but they send their "official local voters' pamphlet" which you can read as you fill in the right ovals with a dark coloured pen in the convenience of your own home.
we got this pamphlet when i lived in seattle too, and i read it before going to the polls to inform my voting choices. but here, somehow, it has become my favourite comedic relief as well as an information source. so much so, in fact, that i actually saved the official local voters' pamphlet from our september washington primary elections under my coffee table for those days when i feel down and need a good laugh.
frankly it doesn't matter if you're a republican or a democrat. you can read the statements from candidates of either party and find utter brilliance:
one us senator candidate says: "as the last of the apricots fall off the trees around my clinic, i reflect on the fact that so many would rather use food stamps than gather the fruit so freely available. i am filing for the u.s. senate with a deep commitment that my campaign will not be fleeting as the apricot, but rather stand as the evergreen pine, the symbol of our state."
er. okay.
another, a governor candidate named and actually on the ballot as "mike the mover," says "remember, if i can't move it, i won't approve it."
right.
we have another candidate for senator, who says he is "..an expert on government: american government, un-american government, socialism, communism, the "new-world order" and international trade agreements" but doesn't say anything about how he has obtained this vast expertise.
and finally another one who writes: "gordon belongs to the party of lincoln. 'the great emancipator' freed the african slave, and gordon is here to free the american slave. 'we the people' did not mean one woman nor one man unless he was white and happened to own land. on the other hand, the future of an america gordon envisions is outlined in 'the declaration of independence: we are created equal but if politicians are not doing their jobs, throw them out!'"
if you have any idea what this guy is talking about, you are smarter than me.
i can't wait to see what george w and kerry have to say for themselves in this handy pamphlet.
on a more serious note, as the presidential elections draw closer, i've been impressed at the quantity and quality of news here in the uk. most every day there is coverage in all major press on the candidates, the current opinion polls and the issues. the debates are on bbc live at 2am, and i dutifully record them and watch them at a sane hour. there are great arguments among european political analysts over whether kerry is wishy-washy and whether the bulge in bush's suit is indicative of having a poor tailor or wearing a wire. it should come as no surprise to people that bush hasn't made a lot of friends in europe, other than tony blair himself and perhaps his wife cherie, so while i believe i am probably seeing a version of the news that is somewhat slanted toward kerry, it's hard to argue that you're left uninformed.
overall, i find long-distance politics more fun than politics in close range. my vote may get counted last and i may not see the direct impact of my selection for local insurance commissioner, but i can stay connected with washington--the state and the district--at any level i want. and i still get the voters' pamphlet.
I want the pamphlet.
Posted by: Sara | October 12, 2004 at 03:24 AM