My Day Off....

So this weekend I took a little jaunt down to Brighton to visit some friends. This was after hours of nagging from my husband that the campaign can't possibly take up ALL my time and that after all it would be nice to have some friends left when all this is over.

And off to rainy Brighton we trecked, where the Brighton Pride festival was in full swing. You do have to admire the spirit of folks who will not allow mere rain and wind to put them off their determination to parade in little more than their bikinis and glittering body paint. Pride goers, I salute you!

But before making our way to the parade, we stopped for a sip of coffee and a bite of cake in a little cafe near the route. I was, as always, sporting my treasured Barack Obama badge and after a few minutes my friend gave me a little nudge and a point - sitting one table over was a group wearing Barack Obama badges of their own, augmented with anti-Bush t-shirts. Clearly a conversation was in order.

It turns out, these ladies - Americans all - were South London Social workers excited about Barack. No, they hadn't registered yet but yes they were absolutely planning on it, all the more so when I gave them a leaflet about Vote from Abroad and told them how easy it is to register using the online tool. E-mail addresses were exchanged and much good cheer ensued.

Later that day, at the home of our friends -a German couple recently moved to London - the subject of the election came up again. Our friend mentioned that she actually has an American friend in Germany, definitely a Democrat. Is she registered? We're not sure. Cue another leaflet - can you post this to her? Absolutely. You know, says Friend, there are lots of Americans at our old Church in Munich, perhaps someone should see about doing a voter registration there? Details are recorded for follow up.

And it occurred to me - THIS is how we are going to track down Americans all around the world. We'll do it on our days off. On the bus. In the office. Over lunch. By e-mail. With friends of friends and aquaintances of aquaintances and people we see on the street.

(Just keep some flyers handy at all times!)

Gwyneth Paltrow Will Vote From Abroad - Will You?

American citizens have the right to vote, no matter where in the world they live. And millions of Americans will be casting their ballots this year from countries all over the world.

But unfortunately, not every American overseas KNOWS that they have the right to vote. Or that there is an easy online tool to complete their registration. Or that they need to request their absentee ballot every election, whether they are registered or not.



American expat voter Gwyneth Paltrow and a crew of other Americans of all ages and backgrounds are speaking up in this video to remind people that they can - should - must register to vote this year.

www.votefromabroad.org

The video was launched today in this post on the Huffington Post. Please share it with your friends - if you have a blog yourself, please post it, if you haven't registered yet yourself please do it.

Join the Search Party - Monday Night

As our Presidential campaign heads into high gear, the Obama campaign is constantly seeking new volunteers with energy and creativity to help us find and register Americans all across the UK. We are launching a weekly series of volunteer training and coordination sessions each Monday in Central London, and we are really hoping you will be able to join us for the first one – where we we will also enjoy a dash of Hollywood, with the launch of our new Vote From Abroad video (starring a glamorous Mystery Celebrity Guest).

Join us on Monday, August 4 - and come prepared to pound the pavements as part of our American voter search party! We’ll be hitting the streets straight after the training to find those elusive unregistered voters.

Monday, August 4
From 7:00 PM
Yorkshire Grey (Upstairs Room)
46 Langham Street
London, W1W 7AX
http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=W1W+7AX++&countryCode=GB

Volunteering For Obama

A huge thanks to the many of you who came to our Obama for American training session on Sunday afternoon, and also to those who couldn’t make it but wanted more information.

As we discussed on the day, we have very ambitious goals for our voter registration efforts around the world, and I am so lucky to have such a dedicated group of people to help me deliver them.

I’ve uploaded a bunch of valuable tools to the Obama London group page (http://groups.google.com/group/obama-london/files), which you should all download and print for use in your own activities:

1) London Training – This is the volunteer training document Ali used on Sunday
2) Sign Up Form – This is a template sign in sheet please print off some copies of this keep them with you at any events and canvassing activities you attend, so that you can easily capture people’s details and report the info back to me.
3) FPCA – This is a PDF version of the Federal Postcard Application form, the form used by overseas voters to register to vote. Each state has different rules and specific information relating to how overseas voters should complete this form, but you can get state by state information to help voters fill out this information either in the printed Voting Assistance Guide book or on this page: http://www.fvap.gov/for-voting-assistance-officers/vote-guide/index.html
4) Voter Registration Deadlines – this is a state by state list of voter registration deadlines, both alphabetically (so you can look up a specific state) and chronologically (so you can see what states have the next deadlines).

How You Can Get Involved

We badly need people to register voters for us all across the UK (and the world). I will send out volunteer opportunities for voter registration when I know about them but I would urge you all – don’t wait for me! Is there a farmers market near you where Americans like to buy their fresh veggies? Are there American parents at your kids’ school? An American Football club that plays in your local park? A show on at your local theatre that draws an American crowd? Give it a try! Then just drop me a note to let me know how it went.

Also - go viral. Call and write to all your American friends and family – are they registered? If not, get them registered through www.votefromabroad.org.

Then ask them to introduce you to any other Americans they know who live abroad. Call those people – get them registered. Then ask them if they know any Americans living abroad.

Repeat as needed.

If you are looking for more specific locations and support, Democrats Abroad runs an amazing voter registration program and they are always looking for more volunteers. Here’s their current list of forthcoming voter registration needs:

1 Aug - 11:30 - 2:00 - Deutsche Bank voter registration
4 Aug - 7:00pm - American Meet-up Happy Birthday to Obama - location TBD - Need one person to register voters
6 Aug - 7:00pm - DA August Speakeasy - The Duke of York Pub - Cavendish Street - Need one person to register voters
6 Aug - 2:00 - 4:00 - Federal Voting Assistance Program Voter Registration Training - US Embassy - Attend and encourage people to join the DA Voter Registration effort
8 Aug - TBD - Olympia Camera Beer Fest American Meet-up - Need one person to leaflet outside the venue as people go in.
16 August - Obama East to West Bridges Rally - S. Bank of London Bridge - Need one person to leaflet
20 August - ACS Hillingdon Welcome Picnic for new families - Stephanie S to take leaflets
24 August - 12:00 - 3:00 - The American School in Surrey (TASIS) New Family Picnic
30 August - ASL Scoop back to school event 8 September - 5:30pm - The Pilgrims and English Speaking Union panel on the US election - Dartmouth House, W1J - Need one person to register voters
11 September - 9:00 - 11:00am - Kensington & Chelsea Woman's Club - Royal Geographical Society - Need one person to register voters
12 September - 11:30 - 2:00 - Deutsche Bank voter registration - Need two more people to register voters
13 September - Obama East to West Bridges Rally - Millennium Bridge - Need one person to leaflet
17 September - 9:00 - 11:00 - Hampstead Woman's Club - Need two more people to register voters
18 September - 6:30pm - ASL HS Back-to-School Night - Need one person to register voters
18 September - 11:00 - 2:00 - FOCUS Voter Registration -
7 October - American Society Autumn Cocktail at Wynchwood House - Need one person to register voters
11 October - Obama East to West Bridges Rally - Waterloo Bridge - Need one person to leaflet (take deadlines list with you!)

I would urge all of you to join the DA voter registration Yahoo Group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DAUKVote/

Monday Meetings

Each Monday night in London we will hold a meeting for our volunteers. This will be your chance to get fully trained on how to register voters, to learn about what voter registration and canvassing opportunities are taking place that week, and to brainstorm about what else we could do. Join us for the next one on Monday, August 4 from 7:00 at:

The Yorkshire Grey - Upstairs
46 Langham Street, London, W1W 7AX

The Yorkshire Grey is very convenient for Oxford Circus, Goodge Street and Great Portland Place tubes.

The main thrust of next week’s meeting will be to plan for our August 9th International Voter Registration Day

International Voter Registration Day

On the 9th of August, the Obama campaign is asking all its overseas activists to participation in a massive voter registration drive around the world. I am asking each and every one of you to commit to working for us on that day in your neighborhoods to find and register American voters – whether that means standing outside your tube station or dialing your whole contact list!

Or perhaps this is the right opportunity for you to hold a house party to talk about Barack with all your friends?

Please either come along on Monday night for the planning, or drop me an e-mail to let me know what you will be doing on this day.

Fundraising

And finally, many of you were interested in how you can help to raise funds for the campaign overseas – that’s great and we so appreciate it, especially since tomorrow is the deadline for our July fundraising figures, so now is a great time to be encouraging people to make those donations.

We are asking all Americans Abroad to use the specific URLs that have been created for them when they make a donation. In the UK that page is:

http://mybarackobama.com/uk

Remember: only US citizens can donate. No one can give you money for the purposes of donating it. Campaign finance laws are very specific about what information we need to collect from our donors and who may or may not give – in addition, the campaign has some further rules that they have imposed upon themselves, such as not accepting money from registered lobbyists. To avoid all sorts of difficulties – just use the donation link. It’s easy and it’s legal.

If you are thinking about doing a grassroots event or a fundraiser, please just drop me a line – or stay tuned for my comprehensive Grassroots event guide, which I am working on and will hope to get out to you over the weekend.

Thanks a million for all your hard work and energy! I look forward to working closely with you all in the coming months.

Vote From Abroad

Did you know, if you live abroad but fail to request your ballot this year you most likely will NOT be able to vote?

All American citizens have the right to vote, no matter where in the world they live - but you need to officially register and request your ballot. Fortunately, this is incredibly easy to do.

www.votefromabroad.org

I Have a New Job - As an Obama Staffer!

Dear Friends and Blog Readers,



I wanted you to be among the first to know that I have recently accepted a full time paid staff position working for the Obama Campaign and the DNC, based here in London. My title will be Regional Field Director for UK, Ireland and Scandinavia and it will be my responsibility to:


* coordinated voter registration activities across the region
* provide support and advice to local grassroots groups
* manage a team of volunteers for get out the vote activities, voter registration and outreach to American groups across the region
* act as a liaison between the campaign and its supporters overseas.

I will be working with a wonderful team based in Chicago and Washington, and there will be 9 other Field Directors heading up similar operations across the globe.

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me, but it also reflects a real vote of confidence by the campaign in all of YOU. This will be the first time that any Presidential campaign will have staffed based overseas. The fact that Obama's campaign have decided to take this huge step forward is entirely due to how impressed they have been by all of you - our overseas fundraising and activism, combined with the record-breaking number of voters in the Global primary have helped to demonstrate that there is a real opportunity to dramatically improve our voter registration efforts overseas.

As I transition into this new role I will be hoping to prove to the campaign that they made the right decision, through some significant on the ground efforts. And that, again, means all of you! In the coming weeks I'll be getting in touch with lots of you to ask if you can help out with our volunteer efforts across the UK (and the world).

In the meantime, thanks so much for all that you have already done for us - I'll be back from Oregon on the 2th, totally fired up and ready to go.

Best wishes,

Karin

Celebrate Your Freedom - Vote

On this July 4th weekend, as Americans back home commemorate our Declaration of Independence from British rule in July 1776, marking the first steps towards the formation of our democracy, I'd like us all to spend a few minutes thinking about a few other great moments in American democracy.

1787 - Adoption of the Constitution
1789 - Adoption of the Bill of Rights
1870 - Adoption of the 15th Amendment, preventing racial discrimination in voting
1920 - Adoption of the 19th Amendment, granting women the vote
1965 - Passage of the Voting Rights Act finally ended discriminatory voting rules that had been preventing African Americans from voting in the South

And finally, a less well known but equally important step forward in coting freedoms was the passage in 1975 of the Overseas Citizens Absentee Ballot Act. This law, and others similar, helped to clarify that US Citizens living overseas have full voting rights in all Federal elections.

Like women and African Americans, Americans living abroad have in the recent past been denied the right to participate in our Democracy - both by discriminatory laws and by unfair or unclear voting procedures.

But we are American Citizens, fully entitled to our votes.

Unfortunately, too many Americans Abroad aren't aware of their right to vote, or find it difficult to register and vote. Many assume that if they were registered once they will get their ballot in future years (not true, you must request your ballot in each election cycle), or that if they vote they will be liable for state taxes (not true, there is no connection between taxation and voting).

Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that way. The www.votefromabroad.org makes it easy for all Americans abroad to cast their ballots. Just fill out the form online, print out the resulting document, and post it to the address it gives you.

So please, in honor of our Democracy, on this 4th of July weekend, make sure you are registered to vote. And please send this information on to at least 5 other Americans overseas.

Happy Independence Day!

And as a special Holiday treat, check this out - the songs of all 50 States:

http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2008/05/united-states-of-song.html

Backing Barack - Cross Posted From "The Daily (Maybe)"

Yesterday I posted as a guest on the Daily (Maybe) blog - thought you might be interested in reading what I had to say:

I'd like to thank Jim for his very kind offer to guest post about Barack Obama. Greetings to all of you, and thanks for your patience!

I run an activist group (Obama London) with an associated blog and have been organising grassroots support and volunteer activity for Barack since September 2007. So what is it, you may ask, that inspired me to get involved for a candidate who was then considered a real long shot for the Democratic nomination? Well, call me weirdly idealistic but I was overcome by the possibility that in this extraordinary year, at this crucial time in world history, we could as a country potentially get behind someone who:

• Had the judgement to oppose this unneccesary war and to clearly foresee that it would harm our national security.
• Had the courage to declare that our official policy of non-engagement with hostile regimes does not serve our national interest – or that of the world community - and who is willing to stand against decades of cowardly received wisdom to insist, like John Kennedy, that "we will never negotiate out of fear, but we will never fear to negotiate."
• Has stood up his entire life for the underpriviledged and the disempowered, sacrificing lucrative corporate contracts to work as a community organiser in the poorest parts of the south side of Chicago.

Barack Obama's values and priorities match up with mine – and they match up generally with all of us across Europe who understand that health care is not a luxury but a basic right and necessity; that workers deserve protection, decent wages and reasonable benefits; that ending our addiction to fossil fuels is not a threat to our economy but our only hope of preserving prosperity in the long term.

Suffice it to say, I'm a fan. I not only believe he should be President because he is better than the alternative (although he is!); I believe he should be President because he is better than ANY major party alternative we have had to offer in my lifetime.

But enough with the gushing – what's this to do with you?

Well, the other element of Barack Obama's campaign is that he demands action from all of us. Remember, his slogan is not "Yes he can" or "He is the change you've been waiting for." It's "We can." "We are."

In other words, if you care about these issues, it's not going to be good enough to say so, approvingly over a pint or while watching the news. You're going to have to take action.

Fortunately, the campaign has made it incredibly easy to take action – even for those of us seemingly stranded overseas.

Here are just some of the ways you can help*:

1. Give money. This is a grassroots campaign with over 1.5 million donors so far. We value a $5 donation as much as a $500 donation because we are trying to maximise participation. But if you can afford it, I'd ask each of you to give $100 today – that's only about £50 – as an investment in the future. Use this page – it's been specifically designed for Americans in the UK.

2. Register on the Barack Obama website. The website is designed for social networking and is intended to help link up supporters with each other in a manner very similar to Facebook. Also, by registering you gain access to all the online activism opportunities – you can join and create groups, create a fundraising page of your own, write and read blogs by your fellow supporters etc. http://www.barackobama.com/

3. Phone Bank from home. Once you've registered on the site you will have the opportunity of actually calling potential voters and volunteers from your own home. The Phone bank tool is designed so that the campaign can identify the voters it most needs to contact and our volunteers, wherever in the world you are, can make the calls from the comfort of your homes, reporting back instantly to the campaign about the outcome of those conversations. It is, in short very cool. As we get closer to the election phone campaigns in critical states will be key to our victory.

4. Register Voters Here in London. We have an extensive voter registration and outreach program operating here in London. If you'd like to be trained to register voters here in the UK, drop me a line and I'll set you up with one of our forthcoming voter registration training sessions.

5. Call Your Friends and Family. It may sound simplistic, but actually one of the most effective things you can do for our campaign is to reach out to your Republican Great Aunt Gertrude, or your American dog-walker who doesn't vote, or your neighbor's daughter who is about to vote for the first time. It's far more effective for potential voters to hear about a candidate from someone they know than it is for the campaign to try to reach them. Don't believe me?

Let me tell you about a conversation I had with my Dad on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

It went like this:

Ring Ring Ring – start of voicemail. I begin to leave a message.

"Hi Dad, it's me just..."

"Hi Honey!"

"Dad, I thought you weren't home!"

"Actually, we're screening our calls. It's election day here and we keep getting these people calling asking us to vote."

"But Dad, you're going to vote for Barack Obama, right? Like we talked about?"

"Of course."

"Well what time do the polls close?"

"Good point – pretty soon actually. Tell you what, can I call you back later?"

Now THAT'S how you get out the vote.Thanks for listening!

All best wishes,

Karin

* By the way, the below all assumes that you are a US expat. If you're an interested non US citizen but want to get involved as a volunteer, do drop me a line and I'll send you some further suggestions.

We're Winning Pennsylvania, Ohio and FLORIDA?

Is it too good to be true? Following on from yesterday's good news from PPP, Quinipiac now has Obama ahead of McCain in all three of the most critical swing states - Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.

Can it really be true? A sweep of all three of these states (or any two) plus holding Kerry's states from 2004 would give Barack an Electoral vote landslide - especially when you factor in his likely pickups in the formerly red states of Colorado and New Mexico.

But it's JUNE. We've hardly started yet. A lot can happen between now and November 4. It's hard to know whether a comparison with 2004 is helpful or not - some polls had John Kerry ahead of Bush some had him behind at this point.

But McCain is not Bush, and Obama is no John Kerry. With all due respect to my home state Senator, who I worked hard for in 2004 - Kerry never took fire the way that Barack has this year, and the level of enthusiasm within his supporters is extremely high. According to the polling more two thirds of those supporting Barack say they are very excited about his candidacy. By contrast only 34 percent of McCain's supporters felt the same way.

So all the early indicators are pointing our way.

It's good. Very, very good. And if you're like me you're thinking "What if it IS too good to be true? What if things swing back, what if Barack gets attacked, what if something happens etc. etc...."

But there's an easy answer to that. Don't get complacent. Make sure you are registered to vote. Make sure ALL your American friends are registered to vote. Call your family and remind them to vote. Call your Republican Great Aunt Bertha in Plano Texas who hasn't voted for a Democrat in half a century and tell her this is the year to do it. Write to your 17 year old niece and remind her that if she's 18 before election day she can be part of something really exciting. Get her registered.

Volunteer to register voters for Democrats Abroad here in the UK. Stephanie Stewart (who will be talking to us tomorrow) runs a great voter registration program and she needs all the help she can get.

Use the Fight the Smears website to, well, fight the smears by telling the truth to anyone who sends you false information about Barack.

Good polls - good start! But we're just getting started!

Every Voter, Everywhere - Americans Abroad and the 2008 Election

[Note: I just posted this as a reader blog on TPM Cafe, and am cross posting it here for my regular readers]

As we gear up for November there is going to be a lot of talk about swing states and get out the vote operations around the country. But there is one group of critical voters who are (literally) not in range of the US media coverage - or polling.

Americans living abroad are keeenly sensitive to America's loss of international reuptation. They get media coverage that has been more consistenty critical of the Bush administration for longer than voters back home. And in the 2006 election there were more absentee ballots from overseas in the Virginia and Montana Senate races than made up the margin of victory in those races. So yes, these voters do make a difference.

But finding overseas voters, informing them of their voting rights, getting them registered and ensuring they do actually vote can be exponentially harder than GOTV operations in the States - plus we are often subject to more restrictive laws. For instance, here in Europe there are stricter rules about data protection, making it more difficult for us to access personal information through third parties. In some countries, such as China, there are actually laws preventing a foreign political party from organising.

Below is a short guide to the overseas vote this year - how to do it and why it matters. I'd appreciate it if you could help us get the word out about these important voting tools, and if you could forward this information along to anyone you know who lives overseas.

Can Americans Abroad Vote?

Yes they can! For the past 40 years, expats have been eligible to vote in US federal elections (presidential and congressional). Some states also allow us to vote in local elections as well, but rules on this vary. How Do they Register?Americans Abroad can register via the embasy, or they can get help through the Federal Voting Assistance Program.But by far the easiest, quickest and most user-friendly way to register is through the Vote From Abroad Website.

http://www.votefromabroad.org/

Although this tool was created by Democrats Abroad (the officially recognised "state party" of the Democrats for Americans abroad) the tool is non-partisan and can be used by Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. It does, however, ask users at the end of the registration process whether they would like to join Democrats Abroad - if so, then the party is able to provide them with ongoing voter information and advice.

After completing the online form, the tool creates a PDF with all your details completed, along with full instructions of where you need to send your form (by physical post - no e-mail or fax submissions accepted, sadly).

Where Do Americans Overseas Vote?

Americans abroad must send their absentee ballot to the last state where they lived in the US. If you are a US citizen who has never lived in the US - typically these are children of US citizens who have always lived abroad - you must vote in your parent's last state of residence.There are US expats from every state in the Union. The largest numbers probably come from big states such as New York and California, but there are also large numbers from states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

How Many US Voters Live Overseas?

No one really knows. One estimate is that there may be as many as 6 million with nearly 250,00 in my home city of London alone - but no one tracks this information in any consistent way.

We do know, however, that there are more than enough to make a difference in this election. At Democrats Abroad meetings I frequently encounter people who have been living abroad for decades and who are voting this year for the first time. Go to the American Schools here and you find hundreds of young people who are about to turn 18 years old and preparing to vote for the first time. Go to the financial district here and you find thousands of wealthy executives who have never donated money to a politician before, or who have given to Republicans in the past, who this year are making major donations to Barack Obama and the Democratic party.

How do Americans Overseas Vote?

It used to be claimed that most American Expat voters were Republicans, but in the past two election cycles we have seen a significant change in this pattern what seems to be an overwhelming tilt towards the Democrats. Barack Obama in particular is wildly popular overseas, and this enthusiasm is reflected in the expat population, which voted for him overwhelmingly in our Democats Abroad Global Primary - giving him 65.8% of that vote.

In Summary

Finding and registering overseas voters is hard work, but well worth the effort since these voters vote overwhelmingly Democratic, vote in a broad range of critical swing states, and are not included in US domestic polling. A huge upsurge in the overseas vote could be exactly the right thing to push our votes over the top in November. Please share the Vote from Abroad link widely and spread the word to every American you know who lives overseas. Thanks!

Nagging - Again!

As I have said before - it is vitally important that each and every American citizen living overseas needs to register to vote this year and request their absentee ballot. Even if you have already registered last year, you need to do it again in 2008 to be absolutely sure that you will be sent an absentee ballot (otherwise they might simply assume you will vote at your US address).

Go to http://www.votefromabroad.org/. Obama can only win if we vote for him, we can only vote for him if we get our ballots, we'll only get our ballots if we fill out the forms. Step by step to victory! Tell your friends, please!

Nagging: First in a Series

You'll be seeing ocassional posts from me on this blog that just flat out beg all US voters to register.

If you are a US citizen living overseas, you have the right to vote. But if you don't request your ballot THIS YEAR, you will not be able to take advantage of that right. So if you have not sent in you registration or ballot request form this year, I'm asking - nay begging - you to do so urgently.

Fortunately, this is incredibly easy to do. Go to http://www.votefromabroad.org/ and go through the simple series of questions. No matter what state you vote in, no matter what the rules in that state or county, this tool is designed to populate your registation form correctly and easily. When you're done filling it in the site will produce a PDF copy of your completed application, which you just need to post directly to your registrar of voters - the site even provides that information as well.

Do it today. You'll be glad you did.