Aloha!
Just had to include this article (sorry, it's long) for poohnpiglet3 and anyone else who doesn't realize, "THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING !"
By RANDALL RICHARD, AP National Writer
NEW YORK - When decision time comes this fall, the real swing votes in
the 2004 presidential election may not come from Pennsylvania, Ohio or
even the notorious Florida. The ultimate Bush-Kerry battleground may
turn out to be somewhere more far-flung and unexpected - Israel,
Britain, even Indonesia.
And both political camps say they are getting ready for the fight,
courting American voters who are living overseas and taking no chances
that the expatriate vote will undermine them at the finish line.
Although an official census has never been taken, between 4 million
and 10 million American citizens are believed to be living abroad.
Those over 18 are entitled to have their absentee votes counted in the
state where they last lived - no matter how long ago that was. And
many are planning to do just that.
"There's enormous interest abroad, because the whole of the world
depends on the result," said Phyllis Earl, 72, who lives in Britain
and has not voted in a U.S. election since 1956, two years after she
moved overseas.
Overseas voters are considered particularly important this year. Polls
suggest razor-thin margins in several battleground states, and votes
coming in from abroad - a score here, a dozen there - could
well tip the balance.
Contrary to widespread belief, it was more likely American voters in
Israel, not Florida, who put George W. Bush in the White House four
years ago - a phenomenon that has Kerry's supporters in Israel
vowing to do whatever it takes to make certain that doesn't happen
again in November.
Kerry's sister Diana speaks several languages and has been using them
all in campaign swings throughout Europe. Sharon Manitta, spokeswoman
for the group Democrats Abroad, said Kerry supporters have been active
in "overseas outreach efforts" in Europe, Indonesia, Mexico and even
Iran. In 2000, the organization had 30 overseas chapters; now it has a
presence in 73 countries - including an Iraq (news - web sites)
chapter called "Donkeys in the Desert."
Bush, too, has advocates chasing the overseas vote on his behalf,
according to Ryan King, deputy director of Republicans Abroad, which
has chapters in 50 countries. Among those crossing the oceans for Bush
this fall are former Vice President Dan Quayle (news - web sites) and
George P. Bush, son of the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"Be an expatriate patriot," says an ad planned by Republicans Abroad
that also quotes former President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites):
"We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent."
After Labor Day, Republicans Abroad also plans campaign ads on the
president's behalf in the International Herald Tribune and in Stars
and Stripes, a newspaper with wide distribution among the estimated
300,000 to 400,000 U.S. military personnel serving abroad.
Those who doubt that Americans living abroad could tip the balance in
2004 might consider this: Various chads aside, Al Gore (news - web
sites) received 202 more votes than George W. Bush on Election Day
2000 in Florida. Only after all the overseas votes were counted,
including more than 12,000 from Israel alone, was Bush's election
victory certified. The margin was 537 votes.
In 2000, according to King, Israel was one of the keys to Bush's
success. No other foreign country's U.S. citizens contributed more to
Bush's narrow Florida victory, he said.
Harvard Professor Gary King, co-compiler of a survey analyzing
Florida's overseas vote in 2000, has no doubt that expatriate
Americans gave Bush his victory four years ago. And while it's unclear
whether the vote from Israel alone was enough to put Bush over the
top, 185,000 U.S. citizens live there - an undetermined number
from Florida.
Mark Zober, chairman of Democrats Abroad in Israel, said he has no
firm figures but estimates that roughly 100,000 Americans in Israel
are eligible to vote in the upcoming U.S. election, and that roughly
14,000 were registered in 2000.
But how could Israeli Jews give Bush his margin of victory when Jewish
Democrats outnumber Jewish Republicans by a wide margin in the United
States? Both Zober and Ryan King think they know the answer.
Zober sees little doubt that the Jewish vote in New York state heavily
favored Gore. But in the 2000 presidential election, Zober points out,
it made no difference how Israeli immigrants from New York voted. All
that mattered was how expatriates from Florida cast their ballots.
Israel is home to roughly 6,000 former Floridians - expatriates
who tend to be more conservative than Jewish voters in New York and
many of whom voted for Bush in the last election, Zober said.
Additionally, he said in a telephone interview from his office in Tel
Aviv, many Israeli-Americans who might have voted for Gore if they
were living in the United States voted for Bush because they
considered him an unflinching supporter of Israel.
Once in Israel, Zober said, Jewish voters are no longer guided by a
presidential candidate's position on domestic issues. Instead, he
said, they vote for whoever they think will serve Israel's interests.
Even this year, Zober acknowledged, many American-Israelis are still
inclined "to vote for the devil they know instead of the one they
don't."
No statistics exist to predict definitively whether Americans in
Israel will play such an important role this November. But Marc Zell,
chairman of Republicans Abroad's Israel chapter, is taking no chances.
Zell said his group has about 150 volunteers who aggressively started
registering potential Bush voters a few months ago. As the election
nears, he said, they will be holding "parlor sessions" at their homes
to discuss Bush's support for Israel and will probably take out
pro-Bush ads in Israel's English-language newspapers.
The Democrat group, meanwhile, is hoping to show American-Israelis
that their adopted home is no safer today than before the war in Iraq
and that Kerry is no less a friend to Israel than Bush.
Israel is hardly the only country Bush and Kerry supporters are
turning to for votes. Registration drives are under way in countries
across Europe, Asia and Latin America. And in Britain, home to an
estimated 224,000 American expatriates, voter interest is greater than
ever, according to Democrats and Republicans alike.
Timothy Spangler, who heads Britain's branch of Republicans Abroad,
said chief Bush political adviser Karl Rove has come to London on the
president's behalf, as have Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham (news - web sites). This fall, Republicans Abroad
plans to take advantage of voter interest by sending representatives
to register voters at businesses that employ many Americans.
Democrats in Britain are doing much the same thing, registering
expatriates who have been living there for decades as nonvoters.
Manitta said her group has set up a booth outside her local movie
house in Salisbury, about 85 miles southwest of London, to register
potential Kerry voters leaving Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9-11".
Earl, who moved to London in 1954, will vote this year for only the
second time in her life - not because she wants to, she says, but
because she's afraid of what might happen if she doesn't cast her
ballot against incumbents who she feels "don't have the interest of
the country at heart."
"The situation is desperate," Earl said. "For me, it reached a
critical point. I just felt I had to vote."
Just kidding! I just wanted to clear up what I said about your picture. Yes, I was referring to you, but I didnt say I dont like YOU, I just dont like that guy youre with! I actually think its cool that you have a picture of yourself with the President and I dont fault you for using the picture in your signature. Hey, I even have a picture of myself with him but mine is a fake one (hes a cardboard cutout I like him better that way) that I had taken at one of his inaugural parties. Ive just never liked the man. I actually have to turn my head when hes on TV. Personal problem I guess!
On two occassions, I got an e-mail from the mods telling me my sig was too big so I just adjusted it (with the help of jfulcer). Nothing political about Pete. Not sure what he adjusted cause it looks the same to me. 
and then "Awwwww! What a cutie!" (Elora). 
