Primary Colours

For a few hours last Tuesday, a bustling corner of O’Neill’s pub on Suffolk Street became a little part of America. Stars and stripes flags, election posters, camera flashes and animated political discussion brought the excitement of ‘Super Tuesday’ to life in Dublin.

Expatriate members of the Democratic Party were turning up in big numbers to vote in the party’s Global Presidential Primary, the first day of which was held to coincide with the main round of ‘Super Tuesday’ votes back home.
There’s seldom been a greater global interest in the outcome of an American presidential election, something which was reflected in the huge numbers of reporters, photographers and cameramen that descended on the bar throughout the day, necessitating a hastily-arranged cordon around the ballot box to protect voters privacy. Organising the chaos was Kate Fitzgerald. The chairperson of the Irish branch of Democrats Abroad, she was delighted with the day’s turnout.
“It was really really good, far more than we expected,” she enthused. Those voting on the day were playing a small but potentially vital role in the selection of the party’s candidate, who most likely will go toe-to-toe with Republican Senator John McCain in November.
“Democrats Abroad is roughly equivalent to a state and Ireland would be like a county within that state,” said Fitzgerald. “The organisation as a whole sends 22 delegates to the national convention and they’ll vote in proportion to the number of votes cast for each candidate.”
The final outcome of the global primary won’t be known until around the 21st of the month, as the polls remain open for online voters until the 12th. The level of turnout in O’Neill’s suggested, however, that voters couldn’t resist experiencing the atmosphere of the polling station.
Among those exiting the polls, support for both candidates was strong, mirroring the situation in the US. Gerry Butler, originally from Blackrock but a resident of California for some 35 years, went for Hillary Clinton. Although he now lives in Ireland, he was glad of the opportunity to continue participating in the American political process. “I’ve been a democrat since 1970. I’ve voted in every U.S. election but one – and I’ve never crossed party lines,” he declared proudly.
Butler considers himself a ‘conservative democrat’. “I voted for Hillary, reluctantly,” he said. “I think she’s going to win, but I think it might go on for a while before it’s decided. Obama speaks very well, but I don’t think he has the record that Hillary has – he’s unproven.”
Also voting on the day were Irish-born Trinity College masters student Mary Collins and her American parents Tom and Pat, originally from the New York area. Tom said that Obama reminded him of John F. Kennedy. “He has the same charisma,” he said. “He also has a great record of community service in Chicago and he was editor of the Harvard Law review. He’s incredible. Hillary is a good person, but she’s not exciting.”
Pat went for Obama too. “Mainly because he’s a constitutional lawyer and the constitution has been trampled on by Bush for the last eight years. Also, he voted against the war in Iraq and Hillary didn’t.”
Pat’s daughter Mary believes Hillary should be forgiven for her initial support of the war. “I voted for her because she’s a woman and she believes in a good health care system,” she said. “I think Obama is just a novelty. Hillary has more experience, she’s been there, she knows what it’s like to be in the throes of national politics.”
Kate Fitzgerald says there are roughly 350 members of Democrats Abroad in Ireland, but the number is going up by ‘about 40 a day’. Some members only discovered they could vote on the day. “I went into a phone shop earlier in the day and the guy behind the counter saw my nametag,” she recalled. “He asked, ‘Can I vote?’ and I said, ‘Sure, just bring your passport!’ He was thrilled.”
Following the closure of the ballot at 10pm, many of the Democrats Abroad team dug in for a long night of election coverage on the satellite news channels. As the results rolled in, it quickly became apparent just how close things were between Clinton and Obama. Those 22 Democrats Abroad delegates could make a crucial difference yet.