Democrats and Liberal Democrats Abroad

One thing that goes in Barack Obama’s favour as he heads into the 2012 US presidential election race is that Americans have usually granted a second term to an incumbent seeking re-election, with the notable exception of Jimmy Carter in 1980. Bill Barnard, International Treasurer of Democrats Abroad (and immediate past Chairman of the organisation’s UK chapter) told the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) at Europe House today that another advantage Obama has is that as yet no substantial Republican challenger has been identified. Sarah Palin’s star is in the wane, he believes, even if she still has high name recognition. I pointed out that many people in Britain are horrified by suggestions that this might be the first ‘billion dollar election campaign’, but Bill says there is little chance of UK-style spending limitations being adopted State-side. Being able to contribute as much as one wants to a campaign is seen as an extension of the right to free speech, he commented. That means that branches of Democrats abroad are expected to raise large sums of money for US elections. At a dinner in London for Al Gore, for example, tables were filled with US expats prepared to pay $10,000 a plate. I can’t see many British expats being ready to stump up such sums, nonetheless the Liberal Democras are now building up a network of chapters abroad. Brussels and Luxembourg, not surprisingly, has had one for some time; many pro-Europeans are naturally attracted to the LibDems. Recently a second branch was launched in Hong Kong. Other should follow soon, including, one hopes, in the United States.

LIBG Forum on the US Elections

A dismayingly large percentage of the British electorate has shown little inclination to turn out in recent elections, but I suspect that several millions would just love to have a vote in the US presidential election next month. There is a rational case to make that the result of that contest will have more of an impact on our lives than many of the votes we are able to take part in. So it was maybe not surprising that the Forum on the US elections Liberal International British Group (LIBG) put on at the National Liberal Club tonight attracted a capicty audience; in fact, there were even people standing at the back.

We had a great line-up of speakers: Bill Barnard, Chairman of Democrats Abroad, (Lord) Chris Rennard, Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats (who gave a most entertaining account of gate-crashing events at the recent Denver Democrat Convention) and Nick Childs, former Washington correspondent and now political correspondent of the BBC Wotld Service. There is little doubt that if Brits — indeed, almost any other nationality — could vote, Barack Obama would win by a landslide. But we can’t. And the Sarah Palin phenomenon, which leaves most Europeans open-mouthed with disbelief, taps into a certain genuine American small-town conservative religious vein. The contest is far from over. I suspect that far more Brits will be sitting up to watch the results on US election night next month than at any other previous US presidential contest.

Link: www.libg.org.uk

Breakfast with Auntie

The BBC breakfast is always one of the best-attended fringe events at LibDem conferences. Sponsored by the BBC World Service (radio), BBC World News (TV) and BBC Monitoring, it’s a good opportunity for the external services of the corporation to unveil new developments to a sympathetic audience. As Nigel Chapman, Director of the World Service, admitted, there have been highs and lows over recent years. Closing down remaining European language services (including latterly the Romanian service) was a tough decision. But on the up-side, BBC Arabic television was successfully launched esrlier this year — or more accurately, relaunched, as it had a short life once before. Soon it will provide 24-hour broadcasting, competing strongly with al-Jazeera and other Arabic-language channels. The best news, though, is that a new BBC Persian TV service will begin this autumn, opening up an exciting new channel for dialogue with people in Iran and other Farsi-speaking regions.

This evening, in collaboration with the British Council, the World Service will host another fringe event: a debate on the transatlantic relationship in the post-Bush era, chaired by my old Bush House colleague Nick Childs and featuring the LibDem Shadow Foreign Secretary, Ed Davey, the Chair of Democrats Abroad, Bill Barnard, and others.

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice