Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Obama Wins in Sweden

A little late with this one. But as I already mentioned in my post American Election Thoughts from Sweden, Swedes love the Democrats. Even the “conservative” government here has given a vote of support to Obama. (Interesting to note that Sweden is always so proud of its wide political spectrum but has absolutely no real conservative party. And the Swedes complain that the Americans have no real liberal party. Food for thought.)

And now the Americans living in Sweden have done the same. Barack Obama won the Swedish primary. He pulled in about 70% of the Americans in Sweden vote. I was not invited to vote. Perhaps because I am a registered Republican. So Obamania has swept Sweden. And the rest of the American population spread around the world apparently.

Anyway, Obama dominated internationally. And because of this has secured a solid three delegates. My first reaction to this was that three was just kind of ridiculous. Three delegates? That’s hardly a dent. But it is close for the Democrats. Who knows… every vote counts.

My second thought was that I had no idea there were international delegates to be won. Kind of cool actually that it works like that. Gives a chance for all those Americans spread throughout the world to still have a little say in what’s going on back home. And I appreciate that it is just a little. Keeps that connection but also seems to acknowledge that these people are no longer living in the US and so shouldn’t have all that much say.

It’s been very interesting to see how big of a deal American politics is to the rest of the world. Or at least to Europeans. It will be even more interesting to see how it heats up as the election gets closer and the candidates are determined. I need to figure out if I can vote even though I have registered myself here in Sweden as a Swede.

12 comments:

  1. Hairy,
    I think there are many Americans who are learning a lot about the election process through the current race, myself included.
    I caucused for the first time in my life last Tuesday and that was a new experience for me. 6 months ago I would've had a hard time explaining what a caucus was!
    Like you, I had no idea there were intl delegates to be won...it's rare that it gets this close that they might actually matter!
    It's all very exciting and I expect huge voter turnouts this november...
    ..just curious, what percentage of Swedes turn up for elections? Is it about 70%?

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  2. very interesting isn't it? there are apparently a few international delegates that still need to be assigned which I imagine will happen in Denver.

    and here are some stats about voter turnout:

    http://www.idea.int/vt/country_view.cfm?CountryCode=SE

    looks like its pretty solid. About 82%, which is actually down from the mid '80s.

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  3. Travis... I seem to remember you writing somewhere that you were in Houston. So I have to ask.

    What's going on right now with the primary votes counting in the caucus and Obama actually having won Texas? Is this true? And can someone explain how it happened?

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  4. yes I am currently living in Houston and the confusion over Texas is basically this...
    Two-thirds of the state's 193 delegates were at stake at the primary, while the remaining third were decided by the caucuses.
    Hillary won the primary by a rather narrow margin and supposedly Obama won the caucuses by a wide margin. The problem is final caucus reporting does not come in until march 29 so this is merely cnn's projection. If this holds true, then Obama would claim more delegates then Hillary so he would be the winner despite Hillary's tuesday night victory speech in Austin last week!

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  5. very interesting. and thanks for the quick description. for some reason I think it would be quite enjoyable to see hilary end up losing after having already given a victory speech. schadenfreude. skadeglädje.

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  6. The BIG SWEDE made me post this--so blame him if you don't like it.

    22 ways to be a good Democrat

    · You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

    · You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

    · You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

    · You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.

    · You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.

    · You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.

    · You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

    · You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

    · You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but urban activists who have never been outside of San Francisco do.

    · You have to believe that having self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

    · You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make The Passion Of The Christ for financial gain only.

    · You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

    · You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

    · You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.

    · You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

    · You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and is a very nice person.

    · You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

    · You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in the White House.

    · You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

    · You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Chinese government is somehow in the best interest to the United States.

    · You have to believe that John Kerry's Purple Hearts are legitimate, and that a Massachusetts Senator more liberal than Teddy Kennedy can be elected President of the United States.

    · You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy.

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  7. I love it. the big swede has an excellent sense of humor.

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  8. Anonymous, I think I am what you would call "a good Democrat" (just the title of your little list was ridiculous). I voted for the Democrats every election they've been worth voting fpr. But I don't see your list as a part of vast right wing conspiracy nor do i see it as funny. I just see it as a stupid "supposed-to-be-political-satire" joke that failed

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  9. come on now... just a joke, just like there are opposit lists like that titled good republicans. gotta be able to laugh at this sort of thing sometimes.

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  10. hairy swede, what's your thoughts now on the election? who will you vote for and what do the swedes think of your choice?

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  11. well... my thoughts are this: I think Obama is going to win but its going to be tough and tight. but I will not be voting for him. which is not at all popular in sweden. or really with a lot of people in the us either for that matter. but so it goes.

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  12. Of course, I ended up voting for his reelection. Turns out my political views have changed quite a bit.

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