Posted July 29, 2004.
Washington College of Law professor Jamin Raskin, who went to the Democratic National Convention in Boston as a John Kerry delegate elected by Democrats Abroad, said he never experienced more political energy or excitement in one place, he wrote in an e-mail.
This comes from a man who has represented clients like Ross Perot, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and former Montgomery County, Md. Police Chief Charles Moose. He also acts as First Amendment counsel to the ACLU's national office in D.C. and is chair of Maryland State Higher Education Labor Relations Board. And his past work includes serving as a member of the Clinton-Gore Transition Team and general counsel to the National Rainbow Coalition.
From the convention, he told of how Al Gore's speech was electrifying and funny. In fact, he says it might be one of the best in Gore's career. He mentions that the Clintons were "smashing," and the minister who once served with John Kerry in Vietnam "blew everyone's minds away." He loved senator candidate Barack Obama and ex-Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. He said Rev. Al Sharpton gave "a hell of a speech" and Vice President hopeful John Edwards has some "real political magic." He even hoped to catch up with potential politician and trash-talk-show host Jerry Springer before the end of the convention, he said in a phone interview.
"This year's convention is a great example of extraordinary wordplay and rhetoric," he said.
And when Raskin's not engaged in convention activities, he's out promoting Constitutional Amendment awareness and guaranteeing the right to vote, as well as talking to high school students about constitutional literacy.
Raskin, a professor in constitutional law, is one of 22 delegates elected by Democrats Abroad who will represent millions of U.S. citizens overseas.
Democrats Abroad, founded in 1964 by Democrats living in Europe, is an official arm of the Democratic National Committee. It carries out non-partisan voter registration abroad and keeps members informed of current party activities.
Acting as a regional delegate for the Europe/Middle East/Africa region, Raskin was elected after he spent the 2003-2004 academic year teaching in France where he was a visiting professor at Sciences Po in Paris.
"The overseas vote is very galvanized this year," Raskin said. "The government estimates about 7 million [U.S. citizens] live abroad. And there are huge numbers of Americans everywhere you go ... and they definitely feel this atmosphere of anti-Americanism abroad because of the Bush administration."
In France, Raskin said that he witnessed an intense opposition to President Bush whose administration was antagonizing the French people. He also said that the French were not anti-American but rather they loved America. They were just puzzled by our president, he said.
"They ask me, how we elect [such a man] for president and I tell them ... we didn't," Raskin said.
Raskin was elected first as a delegate from his country committee caucus to the worldwide caucus, which was held in Edinburgh, Scotland in March 2004. At that caucus he was elected as a delegate to the convention, said Sharon Manitta, spokeswoman for Democrats Abroad.
Manitta said that while the State Department estimates the number of expatriate voters at 7.1 million, she has heard that the number could be anywhere from 6 to 10 million people but no one really knows.
Regardless, Raskin says it is an important demographic.
"There is an attention to the overseas vote right now, since it did make a real difference in the 2000 election," Raskin said. "Most overseas voters are not military who vote Republican; they are liberally international people."
The Democrats Abroad active membership in 2000 was approximately 8,000 and now may be around 17,000, said Manitta, who resides in Salisbury, England and is active in the movement there. However, a final count for 2004 won't take place until the end of the year. However, in 2000 the organization had about 30 country committees, and now it has close to 73 (both full committees and those in formation), she said. The most popular of those committees formed is the Democrats Abroad Iraq, nicknamed Donkeys in the Desert, which was set up after the recent disbandment of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
A recent development allows expatriates to register to vote online at www.OverseasVote.com. OverseasVote is a voter registration tool designed for the international community and geared to promote the importance of global opinion and encouraging the voting from abroad.
As the months narrow down to the election, one thing rings through - the importance of the vote is being heard both at home and abroad.
"This [has been a] tremendous moment in the campaign and I look forward to regime change," Raskin said.
*Read reaction to the convention from the president of the AU College Democrats and the president of the AU College Republicans in the Opinions section.*
