- Title: UK: U.S. democrats in London cast their votes for Super Tuesday
- Date: 6th February 2008
- Summary: CHILDREN HOLDING BALLOONS WHICH SPELL "HILLARY" SMALL BOY HOLDING BALLOONS
- Embargoed: 21st February 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC4XMCFJG2365AW7DRK1GCX6OO
- Story Text: U.S. Democrats living in Britain cast their votes to elect a Democratic candidate for the November U.S. Presidential elections.
U.S. Democrats living in Britain cast their votes on Tuesday (February 5), as part of a Global Primary to choose a Democratic nominee who will run for the next U.S. presidential election.
Hundreds of thousands of Democrats Abroad headed for the voting booths in 34 countries around the world. Others expats will also be able to vote online, by fax or post for either candidates Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.
In London, voting began at 1800 local (1800GMT) at the town hall in Bayswater, where expats took part in the biggest day ever in U.S. presidential nominating contests, known as "Super Tuesday".
In flamboyant U.S. style, supporters were loaded up with balloons and signs for last minute campaigning at the polling station.
Democrats candidate Barack Obama running neck and neck against Hillary Clinton for the nomination. Whilst in the Republican camp John McCain aimed for a knockout blow against Mitt Romney.
Hillary Clinton supporter Syvia Lady Dhenin, who has been living in England for 35 years said she voted for Clinton, saying her candidate was the one who could repair the debacle of the current administration.
"She is going to make the United States back into the country that it was before we had this debacle. And I know that she is ready to do them at the beginning. She knows the White House. She knows the politics and she is able to get the things done," she said.
Obama supporters agreed there were a lot of similarities between the two candidates' policies but trusted only Obama to 'heal the U.S.' reputation' with the rest of the world after the war in Iraq.
"Try and take steps to bring America's reputation in the world back up to what it was before the current administration came in. I'm tired of apologising for being American," said Obama supporter Walter Zwick.
"It just feels wonderful to back a candidate (Barack Obama) that you feel so connected with. And I think he has the ability to do that for a lot of people and heal a lot of wounds that we have in our country," said another Obama supporter, Taylor Kunkle.
Turn out is expected to be high particularly after the 2000 Presidential election made clear the importance of votes from abroad.Republicans won the election by fewer than 600 votes in the state of Florida.
Twenty-four of the 50 U.S. states are hold nominating contests for one or both parties on "Super Tuesday".
Clinton, a New York senator, tried to hold off a late surge by Obama, an Illinois senator who has cut into her once commanding leads in opinion polls nationally and in some states in the coast-to-coast voting.
More than half of the total Democratic delegates and about 40 percent of the Republican delegates are up for grabs on Tuesday. Georgia is the first state to end voting at 7 p.m. EST (2400 GMT), although West Virginia Republicans will make their choices at a convention earlier in the day.
Opinion polls show a tight Democratic race in many states, but a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll showed Obama opening a 13-point lead on Clinton in California, which alone has 441 delegates to the nominating convention -- more than one-fifth of the total needed to win. California polls close at 11 p.m.
EST (0400 GMT).
With Clinton and Obama running close, aides tried to lower expectations and predicted a lengthy battle extending to Ohio and Texas in March and Pennsylvania in April.
Because Democrats distribute delegates in proportion to their vote state-wide and in individual congressional districts, candidates can come away with large numbers of delegates even in states they lose.
Among Republicans, McCain had solid leads in most of the big battleground states. But McCain, an Arizona senator, and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, changed their plans so they could make late dashes to California, where opinion polls showed a tighter contest. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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