Dear Dems of Rome,

Tuesday’s Democrats Abroad Global Primary was a success. The Rome event hit on all cylinders. We looked exactly like what we are: a welcoming, enthusiastic and well-organized group of committed people. Via Napoli has never been so festive. Based on the turnout at St. Paul’s Within the Walls, and the expanded media coverage, I am bullish on Rome’s planning for GOTV efforts for Democratic success in the November elections.

The Democrats Abroad Global Primary continues with internet voting until Feb. 12. Later in the month Democrats Abroad headquarters will release the official results. Although the press has reported results from some of the 83 other country committees, DA-Italy has been quite disciplined. Here is a picture of the ballot counters in action. Barbara Goldfield, head of the DA Media group, was staving off press inquiries for the count from 9 PM until midnight!

DA-Italy has been lucky to have the leadership of Chair Anthony Sistilli, who has volunteered thousands of hours to Democrats Abroad in the past three years. Anthony will certify Italy’s count on Feb. 21. He will send out the results to all DA-Italy members by email. Watch your inbox. It would be nice to send him a thank-you note for his considerable efforts.

Democrats Abroad Rome Chapter had almost 300 voters (a Chicago-sized precinct!) in a steady flow through St. Paul’s Within the Walls rectory from 4 PM until 9 PM. We drew an unexpected crowd of reporters and cameramen from the Italian and international media. Thanks to the efforts of Barbara Goldfield, Vivian Weaver, Judith Harris and Daniela Merlo, our event was thoroughly covered. We are everywhere, even the LA Times! See below for some links.

Rome voted about half of the all-Italy vote total. Almost 60% of Rome votes came from new members, many of them first-time voters -- some who have lived here for decades! We had less than 1% ballot spoilage. Rome had a perfect ballot tally (which in elections almost never happens!), so a big thanks to Karen Georgi and her crew of Election Center volunteers.

The media exposure is paying dividends already. An American woman in Rome for over 40 years signed up today. She saw one of the transmissions of the Primary at St. Paul's on TV and called Father Vono, who gave my number. She will be a first-time voter this November. We want more!

We had a few celebrities on Tuesday, too: Gianni Riotta, director of TG-1, came to report. And thanks to Nina Gardner’s initiatives, Italy’s Minister of Sport Giovanna Melandri voted for Obama, to the delight of the press present.

Special thanks to the following DA-Rome election volunteers:

Our ruggedly handsome front door team : Alec Capriles, Paul Haskell and Mack Creasey

The best registration team in the business: Kass Thomas, Joyce Wiebe, Marjory Lee, Nell Debevoise, Maggie Panzera, Pamela Graham, Jeanne Marie Byron and Barbara Lief

The steady keepers of the voting key:
Sally Haskell, Eleanor Earle, Linda Martinez, Rebecca Spitzmuller and Claudia Sobral

Ballot distribution and accounting:
Karen Widess, Liz Holcomb, Stacey Mannotti, Golda Laurens

Election observers:
Alan Epstein, Jeanne Marie Byron, Liz Goletti, Cynthia Creasey, Lora Shapiro and Kevin Mahoney

Ballot box sentinels:
Marco Rossi and Joie Davidow, together with the beautiful ballot box, stars of silverscreens everywhere!

Thanks to the strategic signage, too, from Maria Mobilia.

Thanks to Alison Kurke, Gretchen Bloom and Terri, who collected the donations to help defray printing costs. Thanks also to Ann Joyce’s Pub Party crew, with Marjie and Matt Montevon, Gaby Arrango, Tom Bollati and Bob Barad, who kept Flann O’Brien’s hopping from 7 PM until 1 AM,

Democrats Abroad Rome Chapter extends a special thank you for Lucia Lodolini, our computer and internet guru, who is leaving Rome for The Hague next week. Lucia helped to create the voting registers for the election. In 2005, she started organizing inherited handwritten membership lists in order to certify Democrats Abroad Rome Chapter and Democrats Abroad Italy. Thanks to Lucia and all her DA collaborators these past three years, we now have a wonderful, functional database. We wish Lucia all the best during this important transition, knowing that her IT expertise will be invaluable to whoever has the fortune of taking her on as a colleague.

And thanks and congratulations to all of us in Rome, as we work to make things better than we found them, and to make it happen in ‘08.

Lisa Finerty
Chair, Rome Chapter
Democrats Abroad Italy

Repubblica TV link: HTTP://TV.REPUBBLICA.IT/HOME_P...

LA Times link:
HTTP://WWW.LATIMES.COM/NEWS/NA...

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