The times they are a changing...part 2

I wrote in my previous post about the Expat perspective on the lead up to the recent Presidential Elections in the USA, today I'd like to talk about Election day itself and the reactions here in Australia. With no further ado, here are my observations:

1. Several days before the election, nearly every Australian I spoke to asked me for my prediction on who would win the race and by what kind of majority. I personally always believed Obama would win. I know that's what the opinion polls said as well, but I was basing my belief on what happened here in Australia last year. Australians went to the polls a year ago to decide who would be the next Prime Minister of Australia. The incumbent was Prime Minister John Howard who had been in office for 12 years (there are no term limits here) representing Australia's Liberal party (here, the Liberals are actually ideologically conservative and would be the equivalent to the Republicans in the USA). Howard's opponent in the election was Kevin Rudd who represents the Australian Labour Party (think Democrats in the USA). In the previous two Federal Elections I've witnessed here in Australia, John Howard didn't have to blink an eye lash. He was easily and quite convincingly re-elected. Last year, however, was different. There was a growing sentiment here in Australia that it was time for a change. There was a great deal of disillusionment with the Iraq war and Australia's role in it. Many people were skeptical of the close relationship Howard had with George W. Bush. There were also environmental issues such as the non-signing of the Kyoto protocol and John Howard's reluctance to admit that climate change might actually exist. Rudd ran a very tight campaign and seemed to energise people in a way that former Labour candidates hadn't been able to. There was a feeling that Rudd could bring much needed change to Australia. He was leading in the polls going into the election, but not by a large amount. Most people thought it was going to be a tight one, but Howard would win in the end. That's not what happened. The Labour party won the majority of seats and John Howard actually lost his own seat in parliament. That's been virtually unheard of in previous elections here. The mandate for change here in Australia was overwhelming and the voters sent their message loud and clear. Several weeks after the election day, Kevin Rudd became Australia's Prime Minister.

Seeing the people here in Australia speak out for change after 12 years of the same party in power, gave me the belief that a similar thing would happen in the USA. So my theory was an Obama victory. I was confident in it.

2. Australia is about 16 hours ahead of the USA depending on where you are. We woke up on Wednesday morning as Tuesday was winding down in the USA. There weren't many poll results early in the morning. The Australian television networks generally began their election coverage at about 10am our time. The coverage was a mix of local coverage with Australian correspondents reporting live from the various locations in the USA and live feeds from the US Networks. One channel was feeding us CNN and another was broadcasting the American ABC network. Personally I was glued to my television and was constantly checking the Internet for updates as well.

I thought the Australian correspondents made some interesting observations about the election process in the USA. One reporter was commenting on the lengthy waiting times at the polls. They were reporting that in some places in the US people were waiting for several hours to vote. The reporter remarked that because the turn out is generally much lower in the US, the polling places simply weren't prepared for the numbers. Australians found this interesting because here in Australia, voting is compulsory. That means you HAVE to vote. Everyone must vote. If you don't vote and you can't supply a legitimate reason why you failed to do so, you'll be fined. Polling here is done on a Saturday so it's quite easy to get to the polls. The Handsome Australian tells me that in his experience, you generally just walk straight in--no waiting. The longest he can remember waiting in a line to vote is 20 minutes.

3. Another observation that I found humorous was an Australian correspondent who was covering Obama's supporters gathering in the park in Chicago. He was reporting live from the park before it had been announced that Obama had won. The crowd was buzzing with anticipation though and he remarked, "There is actually no alcohol being sold here tonight. This crowd is just excited." To which the Australian anchor here in Australia added, "It's just political ecstasy then?" Then they both had a laugh. I found it really odd that he felt the need to point out there was no alcohol there, but the more I thought about it, that would indeed seem unusual to an Australian. It goes against their nature to have a gathering that large where alcohol is not involved.

4. Once Obama was pronounced the winner of the election, my phone began to ring. Many of my Australian friends rang to congratulate me on my country's new president. They used words like, "momentous" "historic" "unbelievable" "proud" "impressed". It seemed most of them felt Obama was the right choice, but they weren't sure that Americans would actually elect him. I think they were quietly relieved.

My 4 year old daughter and I sat down to watch Obama's speech. I felt the need to impart to her the importance of such a historic moment in the history of my country and the world. My daughter is an American citizen too and this moment is now a part of her history. Little did I know my neighbours were sitting down with their children and doing exactly the same thing. My neighbours who are Australian citizens were sitting down with their children and trying to explain why this election in a far off country was so important and why this man, Barak Obama, was do different to all those before him. They related their stories to me when I saw them later that day and later in the week. I was astounded. I'm not sure people living within the USA can actually appreciate how closely the world watches all that happens there. If you didn't know better, you'd have thought it was the Australian President that was being elected.

5. On the whole, Australians have reacted very positively to the election of Barak Obama. I haven't come across anyone yet who has indicated otherwise. The Australian Prime Minister added his positive view of the election the following day by saying he plans to work closely with the Obama administration to maintain the close ties the two countries share. Several people here even commented to me that Obama's election has almost instantaneously changed the feelings people here have about America and Americans. It wasn't until Obama's win that I fully realised just how extremely unpopular the Bush Administration has been here in Australia and I'd dare say in the wider world too. I was reading an Associated Press article about an American Expat's perspective on the election (he lives in Austria) and it truly summed up how I felt here in Australia. He remarked, "Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again."

It will be many years before time will judge the performance of Barak Obama as president, but his mere election to the office of President has left a tremendous impression on the people here in Australia.

The times they are a changing...

Unless you've been living in a cave, you are aware that this week, Americans went to the polls and elected their next President. I don't think there is anyone among us who wouldn't call this particular election campaign and subsequent result momentous, regardless of your personal political persuasion. During the last year as the primaries were settled, candidates were chosen, conventions held and elections anticipated, I've had the unique perspective of sitting on the outside and looking in. Witnessing this election as an Expat has made for a very interesting experience and it's one I'd like to share with you. What follows is a list of my personal observations during this historic period:

1. Even in the primary stages, there was a great deal of interest in the election process in the USA here in Australia. I think because the Democratic nomination was so hotly contested, it got lots of media coverage and people began to take an interest in this drawn out first stage of the nominating process. This is my second US Presidential campaign to witness as a resident here in Australia, and I can't remember people being that interested in the primary process during the 2004 election. I suppose in 2004, there was an incumbent to consider and on the whole it never looked like much of a contest. Even still, I was surprised at how much media coverage the primaries were given here considering it is the politics of another country we are talking about. In many cases, I think Australians were really keen to see who would get the nomination--would it be Hillary or would it be Barak? During this period, I fielded a lot of questions about the US political process and how the system works from friends and acquaintances. Australia's government is a parliamentary one based on the British system and is quite different to the way things are done in the USA. So people were curious. I did my best to explain it (I did study politics at Uni so at least I had the background). What I found during these conversations with people is that Australians generally have a pretty good handle on the major players in US politics. They also have a good knowledge of what's happened historically in the USA. If you are sitting in the USA reading this right now, ask yourself this--what are the two main Australian political parties? Who is the Australian Prime Minister? Can you answer those questions? I'd venture to say that 9 out of 10 Australians could answer those same questions as they relate to the USA.

2. Australian media outlets sent correspondents to cover the nominating conventions. Many of the major news outlets here had special coverage of events from the conventions. I don't recall seeing any live convention coverage, but there were certainly plenty of media packages being presented about the comings and goings of each party during the convention weeks. Here in Australia we were kept abreast of the election news as it became a two horse race finally. I feel confident in saying that similar coverage of a comparable political event in any country outside of the USA has never been given so much coverage within the USA as these conventions were given here in Australia--certainly not in the mainstream free to air television anyway.

3. As the election neared, it became important as an Expat to make sure you had requested an absentee ballot or that you were indeed registered to vote, etc. I'll confess, I've voted in every Presidential Election that's happened since I've been eligible to vote with the exception of 2004. At the time, I had never been abroad during a Presidential election before and so I didn't put a lot of forethought into getting an absentee ballot organised. Once I decided to look into the possibility, there wasn't much time left before the election and I found it difficult to work out how and where I was meant to request my ballot. It just seemed like a lot of red tape and contradicting information. In essence, I gave up. I wasn't really that fussed because in my opinion, the writing was on the wall and it was pretty obvious that Bush was going to be re-elected. This time however, was very different. When Hillary and Barak were fighting it out in the primaries back in April and May, I decided I should look into organising my ballot. Again, the media coverage here was such that it was always in the headlines and it served as a good reminder that I needed to organise myself early. So I did. It was the easiest thing ever. I did everything online and completed the process in less than 10 minutes. Before I knew it, I was receiving ballot materials from my state. I think the online processes have come a long way in four years. If memory serves, four years ago I was being asked to submit everything via fax. So thank goodness for the Internet.

The interesting thing about this is, my story is not unusual. Amongst many American expats I've spoken to or blogs I've read, their behaviours were very similar. Didn't bother getting ballots for 2004, thought about it, but never got there. This time was different though, they didn't want to miss out. They really wanted their voices to be heard. I think it's fair to say there was an electricity amongst the Expat community in regards to this race for president. I think people recognised whatever the outcome, history was in the making and they all wanted to be part of it. At least that's very much how I felt.

Stay tuned, this list will continue in tomorrow's post! See you then. In the meantime, please feel free to leave comments or questions you might have about the Election that I can answer from an Expat perspective if you are curious.