Angry American citizens are responding to a British newspaper that launched a project to help readers influence the U.S. election by providing names and addresses of independent voters in the crucial swing state of Ohio.
Writing to “My dear, beloved Brits,” one Ohio citizen responded wryly, telling the London Guardian that until its project was initiated, “I was adrift in a sea of confusion and you are my beacon of hope!”
Another’s anger was more direct:
Hey England, Scotland and Wales,
Mind your own business. We don’t need weenie-spined Limeys meddling in our presidental election. If it wasn’t for America, you’d all be speaking German. And if America would have had a president, then, of the likes of Kerry, you’d all be goose-stepping around Buckingham Palace. YOU ARE NOT WANTED!! Whether you want to support either party. BUTT OUT!!!
United States
One reader provided a terse warning, writing only: “Please be advised that I have forwarded this to the CIA and FBI.”
As WorldNetDaily reported, the left-wing newspaper’s “Operation Clark County” project matches readers with American voters, giving foreigners the chance “to write a personal letter, citizen to citizen, explaining why this election matters to you, and which issues you think ought to matter to the U.S. electorate. It may even be a chance to persuade somebody to use their vote at all.”
The paper noted the United Kingdom’s overwhelming preference for Democratic Sen. John Kerry, citing a poll showing 47 percent back him while 16 percent want President Bush re-elected.
The Guardian said that in the first three days more than 11,000 people requested addresses, and some American readers were grateful for the help.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a wonderful idea! I am a U.S. citizen who is scared to death that Bush and Klan will get back in. We need all the help we can get to ditch this bunch of maniacs.
But the majority of letters posted by the newspaper voiced fierce opposition.
The paper had acknowledged, “Anybody might be justifiably angered by the idea of a foreigner trying to interfere in their democratic process. But this year the issue is more charged than ever: The Bush/Cheney campaign has made a point of portraying Kerry as overly concerned about what other nations think, and the Democrat’s ambiguous debate point about American foreign policy decisions needing to pass a ‘global test’ has become one of the president’s key lines of attack.”
The Guardian is offering four people who write the most persuasive letters to Clark County, Ohio, voters “the chance to travel there and campaign in person.”
Here are some samples of readers who did not appreciate the paper’s efforts.
- My dear, beloved Brits,
I understand the Guardian is sponsoring a service where British citizens write to Americans to advise them on how to vote. Thank heavens! I was adrift in a sea of confusion and you are my beacon of hope!Feel free to respond to this email with your advice. Please keep in mind that I am something of an anglophile, so this is not confrontational. Please remember, too, that I am merely an American. That means I am not very bright. It means I have no culture or sense of history. It also means that I am barely literate, so please don’t use big, fancy words.
Set me straight, folks!
Dayton, Ohio - Consider this: stay out of American electoral politics. Unless you would like a company of U.S. Navy Seals — Republican to a man — to descend upon the offices of the Guardian, bag the lot of you, and transport you to Guantanamo Bay, where you can share quarters with some lonely Taliban shepherd boys.
Real Americans aren’t interested in your pansy-a–, tea-sipping opinions. If you want to save the world, begin with your own worthless corner of it.
Texas, USA - I just read a hilarious proposal to involve your readership in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. At least, I’m hoping that it is genius satire. Nothing will do more to undermine the Democratic cause in Ohio than having patronising Brits wander around Clark County telling people how to vote. Just, for a second, imagine if the Washington Post sent folks from Ohio to do the same in Oxfordshire. I’m saying this as a Democrat, and as someone who has spent the last few years in the UK. That is, with all due respect. Please, please, be rational, and move slowly away from the self-defeating hubris.
United States - I enjoy reading your paper and agree with your politics, but this is really too much.Your plan, if carried out, will hurt the Bush opposition TERRIBLY. We cannot afford to have this associated with John Kerry or anyone else. It will be; the press is going in for a kill, days before the election.
United States
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