Australian-based Democrats barrack for Obama

2 Nov 2012, 2:50 pm   -   Source: Bill Code, SBS
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From a modest house in Sydney's inner suburbs, the battle for the White House is being waged.

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From a modest house in Sydney's inner suburbs, the battle for the White House is being waged.

Florida native Shannon Knapp is part of a small army in Australia committed to reelecting US President Barack Obama.

In the office at the front of her home, she flicks through magazines from the time of Barack Obama’s historic 2008 win, a tear welling in her eye as she says what it meant for her, and America. There’s a copy of the New York Times on the wall, boldy declaring that the race barrier has fallen in America.

I visit on a sunny afternoon, where Shannon’s calling one number after the next on her Democrats Abroad calling lists.

"We're calling all of our members to make sure you've requested your ballot and to see if you've received it back yet" she reels off in a slightly robotic manner from her script sheet.

Slightly robotic, but still passionate, and friendly all the same.

There isn’t a similar Republican effort in Australia to get out the vote. I’m directed to a man in Perth, then some contacts in Singapore, in an attempt to see how they’re countering this Democratic machine.*

Shannon can’t explain it, and isn’t concerned. She’s keener on explaining her dual commitments to her homes old and new. She’s an Aussie now, she says. An Aussie, yet still an American.

"Even though Australia is very much my home now, I make my life and my work is here, my partner is here. I still not only visit the US, but I still have a lot of family and friends and loved ones in the US who I care very much about", she says by way of explaining her commitment to the Democrats’ cause.

"And I care very much in having a voice in the process that provides good healthcare, good policies, a good future and a good education. If I have the opportunity to have a voice or help in that process  I sure am going to take advantage of it."

She recently proudly voted in her first Australian election - but she won't be taking her eye off events on the other side of the Pacific.

Her confidence is shared by the chairwoman of Democrats Abroad in Australia, Dae Levine, when when we meet for a screening of the third Presidential debate. Her team members are sharing their tales of success.

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in a Darling Harbour bar -- as suitable a time and place as any for a debate on the other side of the world. There’s a baseball game in one room, with some Americans cheering it on. They seem to be here by chance. As Dae sets out Barack Obama badges and T-shirts, she says what it means for her to back Obama again, for another four years.

"As an American living abroad I've really felt a big difference since Barack Obama was elected as President compared to the Bush years, and how Americans are welcomed. I'm hoping for a continuation of that."

For these city workers on their lunchbreak, with burgers and budweiser on the menu, it's a little piece of America far from home. One man admits to being an independent. I meet no declared Republicans, and there’s a roar of laughter when Obama knocks down Romney with his gag about horses and bayonets, when discussing the military.

Back in the US, there's a growing realisation that absentee ballots and overseas votes may make all the difference.

"We see elections coming down to absentee ballots, whether they're domestic or international votes, it's an increasingly common phenomenon", says Debra Cleaver from Long Distance Voter, a website which assists absentee voters at home and overseas.

For many pundits, the penny dropped when former comedian Al Franken won a seat in the Senate by just over 300 votes in 2009.

"That election was just too close to call until every last vote arrived from overseas , and then everything needed to be recounted," Cleaver says.

Dae Levine is only too aware of that message.

"Ultimately, I think it's about what was said by the moderator at the end there, which is about getting out the vote, and we need to make sure people do," she tells me, her mood markedly more buoyant after a good performance from her candidate in the final debate.

"I have my ballot on me and I'm going to put it in the post box right now."

* Republicans Abroad are in the process of setting up new chapters in Australia.

US Election , Barack Obama , Mitt Romney

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