DEMOCRATS ABROAD SPAIN NEWSLETTER We're two months away from an unprecedented Presidential election, and we have a lot going on. Your help will put Obama-Biden in the White House. We have chapters in Barcelona, the Balearic Islands, Madrid and Sevilla. If you're elsewhere and want to do something, let us know at spain@democratsabroad.org and we'll get you what you need. Please forward this newsletter to your friends around Spain. STUDY ABROAD VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE Democrats Abroad Spain is spearheading the effort to get every American student who has come to Spain to study this fall to be able to vote in November. Our plan of attack involves attending the study abroad programs' orientation sessions in Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, Alicante, Salamanca, and Valencia and helping students request an absentee ballot. Hundreds of American students newly arrived in Spain will be voting for the first time thanks to this effort. These sessions will all happen in the first two weeks of September, and if you haven't already volunteered to help at these Student Voter Registration sessions, please do! We need a lot of volunteers to make this a success. Madrid: Nika Cleveland, nikademsabroad@gmail.com Sevilla: Aimee Enders, sevilledems@gmail.com Barcelona: Elizabeth Breedlove, dems@e-breedlove.com BARCELONA CHAPTER EVENTS Welcome Back Cocktail Tuesday, September 9, at the Jardi of the L'Ateneu Barcelones, Canuda 6. 9€ general admission, 7€ students. RSVP and information: bcndems@gmail.com Pre-Election Dinner and Auction will combine grassroots activism with fundraising in an elegant setting. Auction items include an autographed copy of Al Gore's An Assault on Reason, Obama merchandise (T-shirts, buttons, pins, etc.) or a basket of American baked goods. Tuesday, September 30, Flamant Restaurant, Enric Granados, 23. Three-course dinner and wine, 28€. RSVP bcndems@gmail.com Political Debate Screenings (to be confirmed to Catalunya Democrats by e-mail). Sit back with other Americans to watch the Presidential candidates debate. Free entry. Bring your own drinks and snacks. First Presidential Debate showing on Saturday, September 27 at 6:00 p.m. at L'Ateneu Barcelona, Calle Canuda 6, Sala Verdaguer. Second Presidential Debate showing on Wednesday, October 8, 7:30 p.m. at L'Ateneu Barcelona, Calle Canuda 6, Sala Verdaguer. Election Night Party. Tuesday, November 4, 9:30 p.m. Details forthcoming. MADRID CHAPTER EVENTS Monthly Chapter Meeting September 18 from 7:30 to10 p.m. at the James Joyce Pub, calle Alcalá 59 (metro: Banco de España). We're planning a welcome back drink and campaign organizing session, including an insider's report on the convention in Denver from our Delegate Gil Carbajal, and news about how you can help elect Barack Obama from Spain's campaign coordinator Sean Carroll. Plus lots more! The first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain will be screened at 6 p.m. September 27 in the auditorium of the Casa de Americas, Plaza de Cibeles (metro: Banco de España). Democrats Abroad members and all their friends are welcome to attend this historic debate which will take place in Oxford, Mississippi, and focus on domestic issues such as the US economy, immigration policy and racism. The one-and-a-half hour debate will be followed with a live analysis by Democratic and Republican pundits right here in Spain; in English with simultaneous translation in Spanish courtesy of Casa de Americas. October monthly meeting. Date, place and time to be announced. The third presidential debate will be screened at 8 p.m. October 16 in the auditorium of the Casa de Americas, Plaza de Cibeles (metro: Banco de España). This debate, to be held at Hofstra University in New York, will focus on US foreign policy and will also be followed by live analysis from Democratic and Republican pundits, moderated by US Embassy political officer William Duncan. In English with simultaneous translation in Spanish courtesy of Casa de Americas. Election Night Party November 4! Celebrate the election of Barack Obama with other Democrats from 9 p.m. until late at Star Cafe, Serrano Jover 5 (metro: Arguelles). SEVILLE CHAPTER EVENTS Student Voter Registration. We have been hard at work over the last two weeks registering study abroad students as they arrive to Seville. However, there are still quite a few registrations that we need help with. So far we have scheduled presentations on September 5 and 12. Contact Aimee Enders at sevilledems@gmail.com to volunteer. Drinking Liberally Fall Kick-Off. Welcome back! Join us at Bodega Morales, calle García De Vinuesa, on September 18 at 9 p.m. for our first meeting of the season. Democrats Abroad Seville has been collaborating with the US-based organization Drinking Liberally to bring one of the first overseas chapters to Seville. This is your chance to see what it's all about! Visit http://livingliberally.org/drinking/ for more information. Presidential Debate Viewing Party, October 8, time and place to be announced. Election Party, November 4 at 9:30 p.m. The venue is tentatively set at P. Flaherty's across from the Cathedral. SEPTEMBER - YOUR LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER TO VOTE FOR NOVEMBER ELECTIONS! Remember, everybody, September is the deadline to register to vote in the 2008 November elections. Tell everyone you meet to register by going to: http://www.VoteFromAbroad.org. It's accurate, it's easy, and it works. Answer the questions, print out the form, put a stamp on it and put it in the mail. Your ballot will arrive in October. Use the brilliant "Where on Earth will you vote?" video, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, to help spread the word. The "Where on Earth will you vote?" video is now available with Spanish subtitles thanks to a cross-Atlantic collaboration. Please post this wherever you can so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdwbbbO9j_4 While you're at YouTube, you can watch Democrats Abroad cast its votes in the roll call at the Democratic Convention in Denver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrnLslvIcrs&feature=related If you have any voting problems, Voter Central is a Democrats Abroad service that responds to any voting question in 24 hours. votercentral@democratsabroad.org More voter resources posted on the Democrats Abroad Spain website at https://www.democratsabroad.org/node/6479 A NOTE FROM GIL CARBAJAL, VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATS ABROAD SPAIN As I slowly chill out from the extraordinary experience of being a Delegate to the Democratic Party Convention in Denver, I want to share an experience that underlined for me the importance of what we do in Democrats Abroad. Every morning an invited guest came to our delegation's breakfast meeting. One of them was Congressional Representative Carolyn Maloney. She told us that she managed to unseat a multi-term Republican incumbent who outspent her five to one in her first bid for New York's 14th Congressional District seat. It was a very close race and she won it thanks to the absentee ballots from overseas. Let's keep that in mind as we make every effort this month to get out the vote of as many US citizens in Spain as possible! THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD TO CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS IN CHICAGO -- by Sean Ansett, Democrats Abroad Spain Marketing Chair I wanted to share a recent trip that I made to Obama's HQ in Chicago, Illinois. On July 25, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Obama's HQ. The visit for me was like an opportunity to visit Mr. Wonka or the Wizard of Oz and get a sense of what goes on behind the scenes to provide the support and strategies necessary to launch and maintain a successful campaign. After passing through tight security, I entered the world of Oz. I was greeted by Daniel Dozier who helps to coordinate funding and other activities for Obama abroad and who is one of the staffers who has been with the campaign since the beginning. I learned more about Daniel's work and other respective departments. The most striking to me was the number of distinct sections like Women for Obama, Veterans for Obama, Latinos for Obama etc. Additionally, the energy and buzz in the room was very motivational and exciting. Daniel mentioned that with this race looking like it will be tight that Democrats living abroad are a key constituency in this election and that we can all play a role in registering Democrats to vote, fund raising and even volunteering for the campaign in the states leading to November. So please contact your local chapter if you have some time to share to elect Obama and Biden this fall. I am confident that with the energy, passion and commitment that I observed in person at Obama's HQ that we will turn the tables in 2008!