SARAH PALIN CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM ALASKA
Sep. 26th, 2008 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogSeems like every US presidential race since 2000 has been so close that it comes down to a key battleground that will ultimately swing the election. In 2000, it was Florida. In 2004, it was Ohio.
In 2008, of course, it’s Hong Kong.
You laugh. I have proof.
That’s in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. Yes. Saw it last week on the way back from my govt physiotherapist. I thought maybe I’d hallucinated it – perhaps the electrodes on my back had somehow rerouted up the spinal cord and through my optic nerves to rearrange my retinae.
So, knowing I would need photographic evidence anyway to convince you lot, I went back and checked.
The jokes write themselves, of course. (You can start with the one about which one of those names has never been anywhere near Asia, much less HK, then move on to the Home Essentials angle and take it from there.)
The explanation is simple enough: both the Repubs and Demos have had local chapters here for years. But 54,000 American expat votes are up for grabs here, and evidently both groups are leaving no stone unturned this year. There have been voter registration drives and canvassing activities. They even staged a debate at the Foreign Correspondents Club last week. (I didn’t go. I was on deadline. And besides, I’ve heard that one before. If it had been the actual candidates, mind, I’d have made room in my busy schedule.)
Meanwhile, both parties are also using the American Chamber Of Commerce to extend their reach out this way. Their local magazine, China Brief, which is read mostly by local and expat suits (as well as Chinese govt officials), sported two articles written by McCain and Obama (or, you know, their official stooge ghostwriters) especially for the zine stating their position on relations with China.
McCain’s article is here. Obama’s is here. The watered down AP summary of both is here. Make of them what you will. Personally, I didn’t find either of them that surprising or original. They’re also probably in need of furious revision, as they were written before we all found out what melamine was.
Either way, I doubt they’ll sway anyone away from whoever they already support. Which is probably bad news for McCain. The majority of people outside the US would just as soon see Obama win the ball game. And when yr the top superpower in the world, that matters.
Anyway, when November 4 rolls around, keep yr eyes on HK. The election will be decided here – though of course if McCain wins, we will deny all responsibility.
Choose or lose,
This is dF and I endorse this message
In 2008, of course, it’s Hong Kong.
You laugh. I have proof.
That’s in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. Yes. Saw it last week on the way back from my govt physiotherapist. I thought maybe I’d hallucinated it – perhaps the electrodes on my back had somehow rerouted up the spinal cord and through my optic nerves to rearrange my retinae.
So, knowing I would need photographic evidence anyway to convince you lot, I went back and checked.
The jokes write themselves, of course. (You can start with the one about which one of those names has never been anywhere near Asia, much less HK, then move on to the Home Essentials angle and take it from there.)
The explanation is simple enough: both the Repubs and Demos have had local chapters here for years. But 54,000 American expat votes are up for grabs here, and evidently both groups are leaving no stone unturned this year. There have been voter registration drives and canvassing activities. They even staged a debate at the Foreign Correspondents Club last week. (I didn’t go. I was on deadline. And besides, I’ve heard that one before. If it had been the actual candidates, mind, I’d have made room in my busy schedule.)
Meanwhile, both parties are also using the American Chamber Of Commerce to extend their reach out this way. Their local magazine, China Brief, which is read mostly by local and expat suits (as well as Chinese govt officials), sported two articles written by McCain and Obama (or, you know, their official stooge ghostwriters) especially for the zine stating their position on relations with China.
McCain’s article is here. Obama’s is here. The watered down AP summary of both is here. Make of them what you will. Personally, I didn’t find either of them that surprising or original. They’re also probably in need of furious revision, as they were written before we all found out what melamine was.
Either way, I doubt they’ll sway anyone away from whoever they already support. Which is probably bad news for McCain. The majority of people outside the US would just as soon see Obama win the ball game. And when yr the top superpower in the world, that matters.
Anyway, when November 4 rolls around, keep yr eyes on HK. The election will be decided here – though of course if McCain wins, we will deny all responsibility.
Choose or lose,
This is dF and I endorse this message
