Americans Overseas Kick Off Super Tuesday
Expatriates Head To Polling Places And, For First Time, The Internet
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Kate Redmond of Fairplay, Colorado, center, casts her ballot as others queue up to vote in 2008 U.S. presidential primary, at a hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
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Elizabeth Bonane, U.S. resident in Thailand, casts her vote in U.S. presidential primary at a polling station in Bangkok Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
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A Sprint To Super Tuesday
The remaining presidential candidates are battling for frontrunner status as they prepare for Super Tuesday, when 24 states will vote for a nominee. Gwen Belton reports from New York.
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Home Stretch To Super Tuesday
Karen Brown reports on the presidential candidates as they campaign on the last day before the big Super Tuesday showdown.
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But some voting experts expressed fears that Internet ballots were vulnerable to tampering, computer hacking and could not be authenticated or recounted.
Indonesia, where candidate Barack Obama once lived as a child, kicked off the Super Tuesday campaign at the stroke of midnight. More than a hundred people turned out at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in the normally bustling capital, saying America needed to restore its reputation across the globe.
"Living overseas, I think that's the most important thing," said Peter Gardiner as he waited in line with his family. "We've had eight years of an administration that has basically destroyed America's image."
While votes to choose party candidates were taking place in more than 20 U.S. states Tuesday, the busiest day in the U.S. primary election season, overseas balloting lasts for a week. Polling booths were being set up in locations ranging from a doughnut shop in Cambodia, to a pub in Ireland, to a French cafe.
CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen in Tokyo says, for Americans living abroad, it's never been easier to follow the election. Candidates have web sites where the interested can see position papers, watch campaign rallies and even check out the latest commercials. "It's almost like being home," says Petersen.
Expatriates weren't the only ones paying attention to the polling, adds Petersen; Super Tuesday was the top foreign story in Japan's news coverage.
The U.S. has dominated much of Asia's attention since World War II, and Petersen says Asians know that what happens in the U.S. can affect their lives. Different presidents deal differently with issues like exports to America, how the military is used in the region, and how to handle Chinese-American relations; and encouraging cooperation or confrontation with the regime in North Korea.
"This is a critical election. We are at a tipping point," said Don Bryant, a 54-year-old retired U.S. Army medical officer among dozens voting at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.
"The direction it goes will make a big difference in the life my children have."
Some 6 million expatriates are eligible to vote, but only a fraction have done so in the past. Up until recently, their only option was to mail absentee ballot request forms to their last U.S. county of residence, then wait for ballots to be delivered in time to vote.
Melissa Howell-Alipalo, a longtime resident in the Philippines, was among those voting online Tuesday - an option that, like overseas in-person voting, is not available to Republicans.
She said it couldn't have been easier.
"I registered with Democrats Abroad, I was approved, received my ballot number and a pin code in an e-mail. I clicked on the hyperlink, entered my ballot number, address and birth date."
Then presto, Howell-Alipalo said, she voted.
Barbara Simons, a member of the nonprofit Verified Voting Foundation and a critic of electronic voting, warned, however, that "just because it was simple, doesn't mean it's successful."
This is not the way to run an election.
Barbara Simons, Verified Voting FoundationRepublicans Abroad has operated independently of its national party since 2003, and therefore cannot hold in-person or Internet votes overseas. But it is organizing to get more expatriate Republicans registered back home in time to receive their ballots overseas and cast them in primaries later this year.
Hundreds of Democrats were registered in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million, where Obama lived with his mother from the age of 6 until 10, growing up with exotic pets, like his monkey Tata, and tasting rare delicacies, from snake meat to grasshoppers.
"There is a bit of rooting for the hometown boy," said Tristram Perry, the public diplomacy officer at the U.S. Embassy, as an early tally at the J.W. Marriott gave Obama a resounding 75 percent of the votes to 25 percent for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"It is the first time someone who grew up in Indonesia is running for president."
But Ari Bassin, a 31-year-old New York native, said he was sticking with Clinton.
"She brings heft to the table and has respect from around the world that, at this point, I'm not sure Obama has," he said.
The Democratic National Convention in August will include 22 delegates from overseas. Under party rules, they get half a vote each for a total of 11. That's more than U.S. territories get, but fewer than the least populous states, Wyoming and Alaska, which get 18 delegate votes each.
The overseas delegates will be selected through a combination of local, regional and worldwide caucus meetings.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 106 CommentsA fellow patriot has offered the name of his cherished canine companion, Drew Shelt, to write in as a protest vote.
Loyal Americans simply cannot vote for candidates who have voted for the Treason Act, the Torture Act, and the abolition of Habeas corpus, and will not acknowledge their error or pledge to remedy it.
I mean honestly, how can you vote for the "Patriot Act", the "Military Commissions Act", and the abolition of the foundation of of justice for over 900 years, and not at least apologize?
A strong alternate write in vote has often sent a potent message to the political elite, and the message is much more effective if everyone writes in the same name, especially if it''s for some being or thing that could not possibly win.
And this is far more effective than not voting at all.
So let all those Americans who will stand for nothing less than the immediate and unconditional restoration of our Constitution protest by writing in "Drew Shelt" today.
And if neither party has awoken by election day we should write him in for President.
ST
"Our representatives had become politicians, precluding all hope of justice."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
With Dennis Kucinich out of the race, I am free to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries.
Can you imagine a photo of him on Prevention Magazine''''s cover, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth? I have seen such a photo on You Tube --so it could happen. The Republicans WANT Obama. They want a straw-man they can allow to be built up so they can knock him down in the polls.
Additionally--"prevention" as he puts it means you would have to report to a doctor when you feel fine--so the "medical authorities" can do a fishing expedition...
He needs the experience that Hillary already has.
Let him be Vice President--he''''s only 46!!!
goldesprit,
Re: "Obama is promoting his primary ingreedent in his health plan as "prevention"--but he smokes cigarettes!"
Is that the best you''ve got?
Obama quit smoking in an agreement with his wife to run for president. Where have you been?
Re: "He needs the experience that Hillary already has."
The experience of being a former Board member of Wal-Mart, a traitor to our Constitution, a chicken-hawk war monger, and a fully owned Corporate/AIPAC concubine?
No thanks.
ries/2008/01/29/world/main3763147.shtml
Posted by terrorislam7 at 05:42 AM : Feb 05, 2008
Terrorslams6/CowardChrisitan7 is getting far in counting. He got to 7 now. Way to go lars08! Once your serial number get to 8 you should go back to 1, that''s as far as your brain can go... your Random Active Memory (RAM) is set at 8, huh!
-Oh by the way I''ve been molesting babies and animals all night long, what a touchin'' iddiottt!
The day when gay pride parade marching,
state paid abortion providing, gun contrl
advocating former Governor of Massachusetts
faces off with Ted Kennedys co-sponsor of
legislation to grant amnesty to illegal
aliens for the conservative vote and
the Reublican presidential nomination.
how can Obama be the honest person if he himself is caught in lies?
how can Obama claim he can do perfect judgement on DAY 1 if he himself makes mistakes on getting involve with a slumlord?
how can Obama claim he can be the uniter if he himself indulge in fights?
how can Obama claim he is the new blood if he himself is part of the old blood?
how can Obama be the bridge to the future if he himself does not have the mastery of past?
a good salesman (OBAMA) can make you drive a lemon car. a good mechanic (CLINTON) can fix the lemon car.
barack HUSSEIN OBAMA. can not trust the name...
ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT MUSLIM PRESIDENT?
(PROOF is in the DNA. Father is MUSLIM. he studied in MUSLIM school. MUSLIMS says he is MUSLIM.)
earthlives,
Re: "Romney is the next Ronald Reagan. He is the most capable leader in this race."
GO ***** RUNNEY!!!
HECKUVA'' JOB, ***!!!
akona2
"PROOF is in the DNA."
Muslim is a religion, not a genetic trait, and you are a fool, especially if you think that Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton, sounds like a good idea.
.........and that''s Mitt Romney, no question about it.
For me, I''m looking for a candidate that has a "proven record" of accomplishments a "walker" not a "talker".
Washington DC is BROKEN and only Mitt Romney has the ability to fix it which is why alot of folks called him Mr. Fixer or Mr. Economy.
If Mitt wins CALIFORNIA he will be the GOP nominee and our next president.
................GO MITT ! , the best of all the rest!
I-s barack HUSSEIN OBAMA a MUSLIM or NOT?
S-eek for the truth, is that you say
A-ll of you who thought you knew
S-eek for a DNA test and you will know
T-he father is a MUSLIM, the brother and sister are MUSLIMs.
E-ducated in MUSLIM school
R-ight under our nose that we might not know...
DISASTER is spelled out if we get the FIRST MUSLIM PRESIDENT.
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Posted by akona2 at 07:59 AM : Feb 05, 2008
You are a complete idiot and all of this has been proven to be a right wing religous fantical lie.
Stop spreading your polution over the internet moron.
akona2,
Re: "D-emocrats and independents should ask themselves
I-s barack HUSSEIN OBAMA a MUSLIM or NOT?"
I think that non-morons have already figured out the answer to this question, assuming that anyone cared.
I sent this out in mass mailings to all of the people that I know so who knows maybe Drew will win."
radiob
I''''m doing the same even as we speak. Honestly, what a fantastic idea fellow patriot. I was sincerely in turmoil about what I was going to do, and for the first time in a two decades considering not voting at all in a Presidential primary.
In fact, in retrospect, you should have thought about this and told me a long time ago so I could post Drew on my site!
OK, so I should have thought of it. Sheesh. Some people will give no quarter ... :)
Drew Shelt for President - Compassion, Humility, and Justice.
ST
"I wanted only a freedom for all that I had coveted for myself."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
Vote for Drew write him in.
I-s barack HUSSEIN OBAMA a MUSLIM or NOT?
S-eek for the truth, is that you say
A-ll of you who thought you knew
S-eek for a DNA test and you will know
T-he father is a MUSLIM, the brother and sister are MUSLIMs.
E-ducated in MUSLIM school
R-ight under our nose that we might not know...
DISASTER is spelled out if we get the FIRST MUSLIM PRESIDENT.
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====
Islam is a faith. Not a race. *******.
Posted by silentxplane at 08:28 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
LOL Makes you wonder where these people came from doesn''t it. They obviously lack the most basic education and are so afraid of change they would suffer any level of poverty for themselves and their family to feed that fear. It''s also a violation of OUR Constitution, which so clearly says NO RELIGIOUS Test should be required of a canidate. I personally am for Hillary but not to the extent that I would stoop to this person''s level.
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Posted by skyk at 08:39 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Morning Bro! Semper Fi! What no classes today?
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Posted by MCVet at 08:41 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Hey Sarge! Semper Fi! Nope taking a day off. I''ve been teaching Night Course''s for, it seems like, years. LOL THAT is a challenge for anyone my friend. So how''s the Chemo going?
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Posted by skyk at 08:44 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Well it''s going... Sick as the dickens. Looked for you last night on messenger and wondered what happened.
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Posted by MCVet at 08:46 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Yeah I know. Stayed over awhile trying to teach some of these folks about history and it''s meanings today. The one''s who listen to Robertson and Limbaugh are the worst. They come in with twisted views of actual events and you have to go out of your way to show them that they are buying LIES.
MCVet,
I wish you a speedy recovery.
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Posted by FeelFree1 at 08:49 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Thanks! It seems I''ve been recovering from Vietnam my entire life. LOL
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Posted by skyk at 08:49 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Strange you should mention that... I answered one of those types this morning who was claiming that Democrats and their policies were meant to CREATE Poor and decieve Blacks. That''s an insult to common sense since Poverty has consistently gone down under Democrats... What''s with that?
Dogpile Gazette
Dogpile Missouri: We caught up with Drew our hometown champion on the steps of the state capital yesterday and inquired to his campaign for president. He stated that all was going well and that momentum was gathering in his favor. When pressed on issues such as Iraq he replied that he had a concrete plan to end the war inside of six months of his presidency. Asked about the immigration issue he again reiterated that he had the only viable plan. Asked about his plan and details of Drew was quick to respond to our questions with great insight and knowledge of the subject. He spoke fluently to the mixed audience outside the steps of the capitol, which was followed by applause. He promised his plan would indeed provide better security at home and abroad. He then went on to state that he would not only finish the war in Iraq inside of six months but he would also put an end to the war on terror bringing it also to a end inside of two years. Dogpile residents and America will indeed be watching this candiate.
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Posted by MCVet at 08:52 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
LOL If you lived in the South you''d understand. It''s RACISM pure and simple. It doesn''t matter if it makes no sense... it doesn''t matter that the FACTs simply do not support it. To these simple minded Red Necks who have been tought, almost from birth, that they are superior to Blacks, it''s a reason to vote AGAINST their OWN best interest. Lord knows you can''t get much worse than they are when it comes to poverty and NO humans on the planet have been helped MORE by Democrat Policies than these people. None of that matters though. If someone will TELL them something like that they will go right out and vote AGAINST their best interest. Don''t try to understand it... you can''t.
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Posted by skyk at 08:57 AM : Feb 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Gotcha!! Well got to get going here... chat with you later.
how can Obama be the honest person if he himself is caught in lies?
how can Obama claim he can do perfect judgement on DAY 1 if he himself makes mistakes on getting involve with a slumlord?
how can Obama claim he can be the uniter if he himself indulge in fights?
how can Obama claim he is the new blood if he himself is part of the old blood?
how can Obama be the bridge to the future if he himself does not have the mastery of past?
a good salesman (OBAMA) can make you drive a lemon car. a good mechanic (CLINTON) can fix the lemon car.
barack HUSSEIN OBAMA. can not trust the name...
ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT MUSLIM PRESIDENT?
(PROOF is in the DNA. Father is MUSLIM. he studied in MUSLIM school. MUSLIMS says he is MUSLIM.)
Posted by akona2 at 07:45 AM : Feb 05, 2008
-Akona2 seems to be the new version of simple-minded diversion agent the repukons (or maybe the Hilaries'') are trying to evilize Obama with. Dumb Questions for simple-minded people. They''re hoping they''d influence the innocent reader stopping over this thread.
- akona2, that this trashing just wont work. Americans are not the fearful constituents they used to be anymore. They see what the Christian/Conservatives/Repukons have done to this country, and seem not to have finished doin'' yet. Americans will take their country back in their hands. Stop the childish fear campaign.
FORGET OBAMA, HE IS JUST A REPUBLICAN TROYAN HORSE.
Well said!!!
No one can take nuclear off the table. There''s no way to meet global or national energy needs without it.
We definitely need to move aggressively toward alternatives but it''s naive to think that nuclear can be taken off the table any time soon; it has to b part of the mix.
If you want a candidate who will lie to you about this and about achieving universal healthcare without first acheiving afforadabilty then Hillary is definitely your candidate.
The American Family Association has released an excellent voter''s guide that you should read carefully before you vote in the Super Tuesday primaries. I have included a link to the guide, so in this article I will only summarize some of the most important information.
In this guide the American Family Association lists eight issues on which the answer of any real Conservative should be a resounding "Yes!" Not surprisingly, none of the three Democrat candidates answered yes to a single one. I was surprised to find that only one Republican candidate had a perfect record. Mike Huckabee was for each of these important issues. More important, he has always been in favor of them. Not one of these was a new position for him.
Some of the issues are proposed legislation; some are proposed Constitutional amendments; some are simply moral positions, such as the refusal to participate in "Gay Pride" celebrations. (Both Romney and Giuliani have participated in these disgusting events "celebrating" homosexuality.)
The first test is whether a candidate supports a national Human Life Amendment. All the candidates claim to be pro-life, but only Mike Huckabee passed this test.
Here is the link to the chart:
http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08vg.pdf
TW08
If you want a true conservative candidate who HAS NOT flip flopped on the issues and become a recent "convert" to conservatism like Mitt Romney, then Mike Huckabee is your man!
Sorry, but your a delusional a/s/s. Your hero, Abraham Lincoln, when he put together the emancipation proclamation himself, said he only meant to free the slaves, but that not in any way was he promoting that blacks should regard themselves as inferior to the white race. He couldn''t afford to offend those that still held slaves in the north.
You need to go back and read some history, fella!!!
Bad edit...
How will the winner provide details on restoring America? Is there a "reset" button involved?
This does not apply to military, who can avail themselves of absentee ballots.
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Google the following words:
Rupert Murdoch, all cycles, NY
I''ll be voting Hillary for real.
Obama doesn''t have it!!! He can''t even articulate outside of a memorized statement exactly what his stance is. I can''t imagine him in a meeting with foreign head of state. He''d have to get up after every question and go consult somebody before giving an answer.
Nuclear Energy needs to be tabled!!! Where are you going to put the nuclear waste? We need to explore wind turbine and solar energy first! Obama supports nuclear energy, then when gets to the state where we''re proposing dumping the waste and suddenly he''s against it! He doesn''t have a clue!!!!
Posted by RowdyTexan2
More Kemp c/rap? Honestly, nothing seems to be sacred to your socialists bags of ***** now, right?
The American Family Association has released an excellent voter''s guide that you should read carefully before you vote in the Super Tuesday primaries. I have included a link to the guide, so in this article I will only summarize some of the most important information.
In this guide the American Family Association lists eight issues on which the answer of any real Conservative should be a resounding "Yes!" Not surprisingly, none of the three Democrat candidates answered yes to a single one. I was surprised to find that only one Republican candidate had a perfect record. Mike Huckabee was for each of these important issues. More important, he has always been in favor of them. Not one of these was a new position for him.
Some of the issues are proposed legislation; some are proposed Constitutional amendments; some are simply moral positions, such as the refusal to participate in "Gay Pride" celebrations. (Both Romney and Giuliani have participated in these disgusting events "celebrating" homosexuality.)
The first test is whether a candidate supports a national Human Life Amendment. All the candidates claim to be pro-life, but only Mike Huckabee passed this test.
Here is the link to the chart:
http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08vg
.pdf
TW08
If you want a true conservative candidate who HAS NOT flip flopped on the issues and become a recent "convert" to conservatism like Mitt Romney, then Mike Huckabee is your man!
Nobody cares about your extreme right wing organization. This is just one more example of religion getting involved in politics. If organizations such as AFA want to get involved in politics, then that is just one more reason that religious based organizations, UP TO AND INCLUDING THE CHURCHES, should be taxed as ALL of the other lobbying organizations are.
Posted by zoe2006
~~~~~~~~~~
I do not target anyone who is out of the country but will return to live here one day. My beef is with those who move overseas because they don''t like the way the country is being run. I include all those Iraqi citizens who are living abroad while the war rages on, who show up to vote here when there is an election. They abdicate their responsibility to die for their country to our own troops and then they expect to have a voice.
You think the truth is sacred, do ya? Then you need to stop promoting the Neocon lies. Maybe you need to go read some more history also.
Just as a clarifying matter for someone who seems to be such a scholar of American History you certainly don''t seem to understand the cultural or social mores of the time when Lincoln was President. To view him through the politically correct lens of the 2008 left shows a fundamental misunderstand of American history Indeed Lincoln did express sentiments that could be judge as racist by today''s standards, however in the context in which he lived he was a revolutionary leader dedicated to freedom and the unity of American but for him slavery would not have been abolished at the time it was. Not to mention the enactment of the 13th, 14th Amendments which provided for equal protection under the law. Obviously you were educated by the hackneyed left of the teacher''s union where reading Myra Angelou is somehow considered more appropriate than classic works of western literature like Shakespeare. Your comments are reflective of the leftist intellectual stultification that has inflicted the minds of young souls. Get yourself to a library and educate yourself in the classics before you star pontificating about one of our greatest leaders unlike the pandering, pardon pimping sexually harassing scumbag pudgy Clinton.
Posted by zoe2006 at 09:53 AM : Feb 05, 2008
??????
Put the liquor bottle down and go sleep it off.
Frankly, I don''t want another conservative near the White House! Not since they have adopted the platform that conserves only for the upper 5th tier.
And I am tired of evangelicals thinking that they can legislate morality by policing every thought.
And what I really find strange is that the evangelicals have not raised one hue or cry at the lies and corruption of this administration. That''s total hypocrisy by our religious leaders and now they can''t be trusted either.
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