This is hilarious!
British Meddling in U.S. Election Provokes Outrage
Tue Oct 19, 7:49 AM ET Politics - Reuters
By Jeremy Lovell
The paper has encouraged its readers to express their opinions on the November 2 presidential election to voters in the key swing state of Ohio -- a move which has prompted a deluge of indignant reactions.
"Hey England, Scotland and Wales, mind your own business. We don't need weenie-spined Limeys meddling in our presidential election," was one e-mail the paper printed.
The Fox national cable television network tore into the Guardian and even John Kerry (news - web sites)'s own Democrats expressed horror at the campaign.
"We all feel it is not a good idea. I think it was unwise. It is so poorly thought-out," said Sharon Manitta, spokeswoman in Britain for Democrats Abroad.
But the newspaper, whose cartoons regularly portray President Bush (news - web sites) as a semi-literate ape, was unrepentant.
"We did consult a number of opinions and made our decision accordingly," assistant features editor Paul MacInnes told Reuters. "It has been an operation to give our readers an opportunity to express their opinions."
With just two weeks to go before the election, Kerry is running neck and neck with Republican incumbent Bush.
Ohio is a key swing state which Bush won by just four percentage points in 2000, and Clark County, the target of the newspaper's campaign, is at its heart.
As of Monday night, more than 14,000 people had registered to write to a voter in Clark County, which has a population of just 143,000. The Guardian, which simply bought a list of registered voters and extracted those declared undecided, pledged that it would only give out the name of each voter once, to avoid them being swamped by unsolicited mail from complete strangers.
"We know that in many ways this is the world's election, and we understand the passion and concern in many parts of the world over it -- but I wonder how people here in the UK would react to Americans telling them how to vote," Democrats Abroad's Manitta said.
"This will certainly garner more votes for George Bush (news - web sites). I have strongly advised other media entities who have come to me and suggested this against doing so," she added.
While some e-mails to the Guardian from Democrats in Ohio were supportive, others suggested the campaign was misguided.
"I just read a hilarious proposal to involve your readership in the upcoming U.S. presidential election," wrote one. "I'm saying this as a Democrat ... Please, please be rational and move away from self-defeating hubris."
But the milder admonitions paled into insignificance against some of the more colorful opinions.
"Real Americans aren't interested in your pansy-ass, tea-sipping opinions. If you want to save the world, begin with you own worthless corner of it," wrote one from Texas, while another, from outraged of New York, ended by advising "yellow-teethed Britons" to wash out their mouths.
