6.5 Million Americans Live Overseas!

[politicus]

According to the International Herald Tribune, there is no exact count of Americans living overseas but it is estimated to be between 6 and 7 million!
If we were a state with a population of 6.5 million, we would be the thirteenth largest state just ahead of Massachusetts! This is a huge number of voters that has to be reached.
See http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/04/business/NETVOTE07.php

Americans overseas directly experience the impact of America’s interventionist foreign policy and our country’s resultant loss of reputation overseas. Those of us who are paid in U.S. dollars pay the cost of the collapsing dollar.

It is imperative that we reach American voters overseas. Contacting voters about Ron Paul can be done overseas, but it is much different than contacting people back in the States.

It has been interesting to read about the lessons learned in Iowa and New Hampshire and the development of the Precinct Captain program. A key lesson seems to be how important it is to contact people one-on-one. Those of us who are located overseas are in a position these 6.5 million people.

There are hundreds of Ron Paul Meet up members in 30 countries around the world from Canada to Iraq. A list of the Europe-based Meet ups can be seen here: http://www.ronpauleurope.net/ The London Meet up has 133 members, Toronto has 132 members, our Seoul Meet up has 48 members, and Baghdad, Iraq has 43 members.

How can we best contact American voters in countries throughout the world?

Its seems logical that every individual county voter registration list would contain a list of absentee voters. Is it possible for the campaign to put together a list of voters by country? If not, how can we in the grassroots put one together?

Could we apply the Precinct Captain program overseas? What modifications would you recommend?

Help us reach every American voter in the world! Please use this thread to share any recommendations and best practices in this thread!

[kushaze]

Sometimes I wish I was one of them.

[Airborn]

yeh me too, shows you how many americans don't like the way things are over here.

[RonPaulCult]

Well I'm living and studying in Spain - thanks for that link I didn't know there was a meetup here.

[JoBurke]

After living in Europe for over 20+ years, I recently moved back to the states with an intention to stay for good, unfortunately I did not like what I saw, and 6 months later due to illness decided to reverse my decision and move back to where it is "safe", my only regret is that I cannot help the Ron Paul movement as I would like too, so I will have to continue to do so from abroad, but my decision to move back "home" here to Europe is the best one for now...if we cannot get Ron Paul elected, I will no longer have any incentive to return home to America where my whole family lives as many of them are struggling to keep thier homes, and are living basically in debt and beyond thier means as they have been caught in the credit trap that was so conviniently set...meanwhile the prices for everthing has skyrocketed in CA.

I Love America, I am a Veteran from the Cold War, I was raised as a Christian, I have never voted let alone taken an interest in politics, or contributed money (I would have laughed at myself years ago if I had ever said that I would give money to a politician) but since I have lived in Europe so long I have seen America destroy itself from the outside looking in...I can remember when almost every country wanted to be like America, they wanted our music, our culture, our freedoms, our fast food, etc. etc. etc...

but what everyone has to understand is that our government has been hijacked by the bad guys for profit, that is basically the truth...in addition, americans have been encouraged to become as dumb and complicit as possible, many have never been out of the US let alone out of state, many do not speak more than one language, many could also care less about the rest of the world, because "we are the greatest country in the world" and many feel like everything will be just fine, and that is every americans good right to do and feel exactly that....so truth is hard to come by in America because we are pretty much patting each other on the back so much that "we cannot see the forest because of all of the trees"

I hope for us as a people, I hope for us as individuals, and I hope for us as a Country, but I have come to the conclusion that Ron Paul is literally our last chance - there will be no chances after this...and if we choose as a poeple to continue living in the dark and not look at ourselves critically in the mirror, well that is basically on us and we cannot look to blame others for that.

I see Ron Paul as the "Best Friend" that knows he will hurt you by saying it, but loves you too much not to say it, so he holds a Mirror up to your face until you see yourself what is wrong with you...and no matter how much you hate to admit it, you see it - ask any addict or anyone who had to go through a crisis, the moment of awakening is one of the hardest things to achieve. Ron Paul tells it like it is, no matter how much it will hurt, and he will rip off that bandaid for you and it hurts him more than it hurts you....and to coin a phrase from that Dictator Bush (not exact) but he said something to the effect of "historians will tell how great or not great i was" - the poeple will carry the message of Ron Paul into the future like that of Martin Luther King, JFK, Ghandi, and all others that understood a basic principle - do not wage wars, honesty is a good thing, and in the beggining when it costs everything...no one wants to be the patriot - so that is the legacy....

one last thing I want to say to every religious person, Christian, Muslim, Jew or otherwise...if your religion tells you to harm others or you percieve your religion as saying so...then it is worth nothing. Countless wars have been waged in the name of religion and nothing but death has come from it - millions lost for nothing, except profits...all the way back to the crusades.

Ron Paul brings all of us together because we are looking for some truth in our everyday lives, and we are tired of being scared...by those who hold our chains - once we all agree that we are being held hostage, and we are in fact losing our libertys and our rights, and being made to be and act as we are told...the faster we can organize to utilize our last ace - Ron Paul

If this last chance is left unused, we have no one to blame but ourselves for what happens afterwards.

I am happy to be one of you, an Individual for Dr. Ron Paul.

[Peterjar]

I am the organizer of the Zurich RP Meetup Group:

http://ronpaul.meetup.com/800/

I volunteer to be captain of Switzerland. If any one knows anyone in Switzerland who may be interested let them know about our group. We currently have 48 members and it grows everytime Ron gets some press. We have Swiss and Germans, but mostly Americans. We are currently organizing a flyering campaing and could use your donations to pay for glossey flyers:

http://peleforronpaul.chipin.com/help-me-support-ron-paul

For all those other expats a great thing to do is to join your local American Club. They generally have a list of members with e-mails. We were able to e-mail 600 Americans in and around Zurich this way.

Take care.

Peter

[politicus]

Peterjar,

I'm not familiar with the American Club. Can you enlighten me?

[Joe3113]

I working on finding the 100,000 in Australia!! :)

[Peterjar]

Peterjar,

I'm not familiar with the American Club. Can you enlighten me?

Most big cities in Europe will have a Club for expatriated Americans. Its a place to network and socialize. The mebers tend to be wealthy also. The idea here is to look into how Americans are organizing in you local area and get invovled.

[politicus]

Ok, so it sounds like the Chamber of Commerce.

For anyone who is not aware, many cities around the world have an American Chamber of Commerce. They tend to be large, business-oriented organizations. Most businessmen in a city/country are members and use them for networking. They can be a great place to learn about who is in your country.

For example, here in Seoul the Korean Chamber of Commerce publishes a member directory that lists all members contact information including names, addresses and phone numbers.
The Seoul Meetup is working on writing personal letters to everyone in the directory.

In many countries, the community of native English teachers has an online presence. Here in Korea, many teachers are active on internet forums, the largest being eslcafe.

Does anyone have suggestions for reaching out to U.S. servicemen around the world?

[noztnac]

I'm one of them.

Everyone should go rate all news podcasts. That's where many of us get our news. Go to iTunes and rate down Fox, CNN, MSNBC etc. Leave a message in support of Ron Paul.

[Expat]

The expat vote spans the entire globe with probably a concentration in Europe and the military.

For the military, the HQ campaign could be placing regular ads in Stars and Stripes. If they have not already been doing so, this is a serious oversight (assuming it takes ads!). That one is read by hundreds of thousands.

For the Europeans: many read international publications like Time, Newsweek and especially the International Herald Tribune. A few ads there would help.

I don't think organising locally makes much sense since Americans are, except for the military, not living in local groups as Americans per se.

Something on the main website for expat voters would be good, with deadlines for registration for the general election, phone nrs and addresses to make applications etc.. Some of us have let our voter registration slip and it is a hassle to find out what to do to get it back.

But my best bet on this is: work the military. Many of them are very active online so it should be possible to put a good series of You Tubes into a package for them to read and share. Also add an Expat section to this forum with a Military subsection for them to network themselves intra-military.

When more Americans see how much support RP has amongst the military, then the notion of breaking down the Empire, leaving Iraq etc. can be seen as both intelligent AND patriotic, i.e. REAL flag-wavers who REALLY support the troops want to bring them home and in the process help America regain its lost reputation as a bastion of freedom, liberty, creativity, generosity etc. Now THAT is what most concerns Expats because they live with the consequences of US Empire policies every day. Some are part of the system, of course, but most are not.

[Expat]

another idea:

RP himself could make a 5-10 minute speech directly to the military, especially those serving abroad. This can be broadcast from the main website, into the Military section in the Forum and also put into various chat groups etc that many of them frequent. It will then spread around on its own. Then they need good links to get information on how to vote and for that someone will have to step forward as main Coordinator for the military abroad population to ensure this information is accurate and well organised.

[Expat]

(to get me subscribed to thread)

[politicus]

blimp

[politicus]

Based on another poster's suggestion, I contacted the Advertising Director of Stars and Stripes concerning advertising rates. The Advertising Director informed me that his paper does not accept political ads.

The military does have strict rules about political advertising and campaigning. However, I believe that there are several chat rooms and forums that servicemen participate in.