This week, members of Democrats Abroad located around the world were joined in a zoom call by former UN Ambassador Samantha Power to discuss the 2020 election. This call with a high-profile former Obama administration official represents an increasing recognition of the importance in American elections of Democrats living outside the United States. Recent events, said the Ambassador, particularly President Trump’s efforts to delegitimize absentee voting, “underscore the urgency...of the efforts you all are making to organize and take nothing for granted.”
Though the conversation covered a number of important elements of American politics and the upcoming election, the Ambassador focused in particular on the damage done by the Trump administration to international stability and America’s standing in the world:
“The underlying damage, which really affects the US’s ability to get what it wants within the international system is the attack on the kind of countries in which many of you are living, it’s the attack on alliances… it’s the absence of constancy, the absence of faithfulness. You could disagree vehemently with George Bush, but weren’t worried that the Bush administration, for the sake of showing their difference from a prior administration, were going to almost nihilistically rip up everything.”
For Democrats Abroad, the presence of Ambassador Power on the call demonstrates the increasing understanding among Democratic officials of the voter impact and unique set of issues confronting Democrats living outside the United States. “We're delighted to have had the chance to speak with Ambassador Power,” said Julia Bryan, Chair of Democrats Abroad, "both for her clear insight into where the U.S. stands on worldwide issues that impact our members and for what her presence represents in terms of the growing acknowledgment of the millions of American voters who live outside the country.”