Here's a picture of John Kerry with his sister Diana.
Posted on 08/18/2004 11:28:35 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CALGARY (CP) - U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites)'s campaign veered north into Canada on Tuesday as his sister appealed to expatriate Americans to register for their absentee ballots.
With all expectations of a tight election fight this November, the Democrats are looking everywhere for votes, Diana Kerry said during a stop in Calgary.
"We do know that there's going to be battlegrounds in lots of places and we're fighting on every front," said Kerry, who chairs a group called Americans Overseas for Kerry.
While there are no official numbers, estimates suggest there are upwards of 400,000 Americans living in Canada. The U.S. Consulate believes southern Alberta has one of the largest concentrations of U.S. citizens living outside their country in the world.
Kerry said her brother is someone who cares about international relations and about working together with other countries.
"He has pledged that he will return the United States to the community of nations and restore the respect overseas," Kerry told a news conference. "I think that obviously would be something that would be very important to people who are living in Canada."
The career school teacher, who has lived in Tehran, Paris and Germany, later addressed about 100 U.S. citizens in a somewhat raucous gathering at the Good Earth Cafe. She found herself being peppered on policy questions including gay marriage, mad cow disease and the war on Iraq (news - web sites).
"Let me remind you I am only the kid sister and I don't sit in on the policy discussions," Kerry said, although she did offer an opinion on the current situation in Iraq.
"We have obligations to that country. We've gone in and busted it up and made it a total mess. We can't just walk away, so there are all sorts of ramifications to this."
Most of those attending the meeting had already decided who they were going to vote for and it wasn't President George W. Bush (news - web sites).
"It's not a matter of being a Republican or a Democrat. I'm absolutely against the Bush administration and the dishonesty with which they deal with America," said John Wade, a Calgary real estate agent who is originally from Little Rock, Ark.
"He doesn't understand the U.S. needs good friends -good neighbours like Canada -and yet they show no interest in furthering that."
But Steve Aspen, a constitutional lawyer from Denver, had his doubts about both Bush and John Kerry.
"Kerry seems to want to go back to being an isolationist country like it was before (the Second World War) and I don't think the world can survive that way," said Aspen, who has lived in Calgary since 1981.
"I don't like George W. personally but Kerry has to show me he will stand firm against terrorism and its spread."
U.S. election law permits any American citizen living anywhere in the world the right to vote in their last state of residence by an absentee ballot.
But because election laws vary from state to state, registering for ballots takes time.
"Generally, registration requests should be sent no later than early September," said Doran Bard, consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Calgary. "Those who are interested in voting in November's presidential election should get their requests in right away."
The extra attention on overseas votes this year comes because in the last election four years ago, six states were decided by fewer than 7,500 votes, while five others were decided by a margin of fewer than 50,000 votes.
This time around, six states along the Canadian border are expected to be swing states that could go either way.
"The punditry and all of the polls show the numbers going back and forth and it was a very close race in so many states last time," said Kerry. "The attention was all on Florida because of what happened there, but in fact there were a great number of states in which the vote was extremely close.
In 2000, it appeared the Democrats would win Florida -and form the government -until the absentee ballots tilted the balance toward the Republicans by 537 votes.
The Democrats have created a new website to facilitate the absentee ballot process and ensure that every voter gets a chance to participate this time.
"If we have 400,000 or 500,000 potential voters in Canada, there are some states whose total vote is less than that," said Anne Jayne, spokeswoman for the Canadian chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada.
"It's like adding a 51st state when you start looking at overseas voters, and the Republicans are looking for them too."
Why don't we just register all of Canada to vote also?? They want Bush out so register them all and be done with it!! Everyone gets to vote but our military who had their votes X'ed out in 2000 by Gore and his bully boys.
Don't you have to have an American address to vote?
These people make no sense to me. At all.
They will always be ignorant. They choose to be.
Heck, I'm convinced that Petah Jennings only recently became a US citizen despite decades in America so that he could vote against President Bush. Of course he says that he still retains his Canadian citizenship as well.
I wish he'd go back and let the border hit him in the butt.
No. Otherwise, all our overseas military would not be able to vote.
He has a sister? Oh cool, bring her out and let's have a look. Should be plenty of fodder there!
Heard on a local radio station yesterday, some woman has lived in Great Britain & hasn't voted in an American election since 1956, but she's planning to vote this election.
While we're at it, why don't we just register every country in the world to vote in our elections. After all, they don't want us poking our nose in their business, but they want a say in who our leader is.
While we're at it, why don't we just register every country in the world to vote in our elections. After all, they don't want us poking our nose in their business (unless they are whining about us not sending them enough money or protection), but they want a say in who our leader is.
Don't the military voters have at least a base address? You can't vote in a congressional race without a district, or a senatorial race without a state - do they make special ex-pat ballots with only the presidential race on them?
Here's a picture of John Kerry with his sister Diana.
Thanks.
About what I expected.
Every American adult stationed overseas for work, military, studies or military, has the right to vote (absentee).
In fact, I hope there is a 100% voter turnout in the US military, for example...that will represent hundreds of thousands of votes against Kerry, many in swing states.
http://www.republicansabroad.com/index.html
The whackjobs will do anything to defeat Bush. I pray they lose.
Deserters for Kerry.
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