Paris Election Watch!

The U.S. election is just a week away and American friends have been scrambling to get in their absentee ballots. I mailed my long ago and now all I can do is hope my candidate makes the grade.

Political organizations have been holding fund-raisings and meetings non stop. Here in Paris, I am bombarded with emails from Democrats Abroad, but haven’t heard a peep from Republicans Abroad. In fact, finding any representation of them is difficult. In an article by Elisabeth Eaves on the Web site Slate from October 5th titled “Hunting for Republicans in Paris” (http://slate.msn.com/id/2107793), Eaves writes, “While Americans who go abroad to kill people vote Republican, Americans who go abroad to do just about anything else vote Democratic.”

In fact Anti-Bush Web sites have been coming up like weeds and it is reported that U.S. citizens living abroad are registering to vote in record numbers. When I called the Knox Country Election Commission office (where I’m registered to vote in Tennessee) to insure my ballot was in, the harried woman on the phone told me she had record calls from overseas voters doing just what I was doing!

USAbroad.org editor Bob Neer said recently, “The foreign policy of the Bush administration has really impacted overseas Americans more than anyone else. It’s caused real suffering for them and even real danger. So that’s why there’s so much interest in the election now. The stakes are much higher.”

I’m in contact with lots of Americans who dream of living in France and it’s more the norm than not for them to say that the results of this election could be what tips the scale and sends them packing to the land of 400 cheeses and red wine (that sadly was poured down many an American drain not so long ago). You understand, we Americans in Paris will be happy to see your eager faces, but not necessarily under these conditions!

If you can’t stand the suspense, there are a couple of places you can watch the election results all night long:

Joe Allen Restaurant (30, rue Pierre Lescot, 1st) will be holding an election watch November 2 on their big screen TV from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. serving food throughout the night for 25 Euros. Better reserve early by emailing [email protected] or calling 01.42.36.70.13.

By special invitation from AARO (Association of Americans Residing Overseas), Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad, Planet Hollywood (78, avenue des Champs-Elysées, 8th) is doing the same. From midnight on November 2nd to 6 a.m., they’re serving a buffet all night long for 75 Euros a person, which includes three drinks. Contact one of those organizations for reservations. (Democrats Abroad: 01.45.49.14.70 or [email protected], Republican Abroad: 01.43.06.10.27, [email protected], AARO: 01.47.20.24.15.)

I’m not so sure I’ll be able to make it through the night, but it is sure to be an election we will never forget and the reverberations will be felt world wide.

A la prochaine…

Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
E-mail: [email protected]

P.S. Be sure to read Wednesday’s Parler Paris Previews Community Calendar for more events in Paris for Anglophones (and other “phones”) and mark your calendar for Sunday, November 7th when I’ll be speaking at Paris Soirées on “Investing in Paris Property: What’s Hot and What’s Not.” Email Patricia Laplante Collins at [email protected] to reserve your place.