Viewing Thread:
"Could The Guardian have handed Bush the election?"

OK, so a week or two back G2 initiated a campaign called Operation Clark County, where Guardian readers write a letter to a voter in Clark County, a swing county in Ohio, which is itself a swing state. The point of the campaign was to encourage voters to think about the impact their vote makes on the world, due to America being so influential. But was it a mistake?

Some sample responses:

Dear wonderful, loving friends from abroad,
We Ohioans are an ornery sort and don't take meddling well, even if it comes from people we admire and with their sincere goodwill. We are a fairly closed community overall. In my town of Springfield, I feel that there are some that consider people from the nearby cities of Columbus or Dayton, as "foreigners"- let alone someone from outside our country.
Springfield, Ohio

Have you not noticed that Americans don't give two s***s what Europeans think of us? Each email someone gets from some arrogant Brit telling us why to NOT vote for George Bush is going to backfire, you stupid, yellow-toothed pansies ... I don't give a rat's ass if our election is going to have an effect on your worthless little life. I really don't. If you want to have a meaningful election in your crappy little island full of s****y food and yellow teeth, then maybe you should try not to sell your sovereignty out to Brussels and Berlin, dipshit. Oh, yeah - and brush your goddamned teeth, you filthy animals.
Wading River, NY

Right on! Just wanted to say thanks from California for your effort and concern. This IS a very important election ... There are so many people here in the States that care about the impact America has on the rest of the world. I am personally saddened for the loss of all innocent lives. The best statement Americans can make to the rest of the world is to not elect Bush for president. Thank you so much for getting involved in our world.
California

Consider this: stay out of American electoral politics. Unless you would like a company of US 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.
United States

I am a student and life-long resident of Clark County, Ohio. I just wanted you to know that this is a wonderful idea you've initiated; people here love and respect the United Kingdom, especially the prime minister. I hope this campaign will be successful for your newspaper and for us voters.
Springfield, Ohio

KEEP YOUR F****N' LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, S**THEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN'T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THAT'S WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DON'T WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS ... TOUGH S**T!
PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH!

To read the rest of the letters [URL]http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1329728,00.html[/URL] .

I hadn't even heard of this until I stumbled across this Ars Technica article that mentioned it. [URL]http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20041022-4344.html[/URL] It basically just summarises the campaign, mentions the response and the writer points to the similarities between Operation Clark County and when he lived in Louisiana when David Duke ran for governor and the effect people like Dan Akroyd had when urging people not to vote for him. It also mentions how the Guardian's website was hacked.

The follow-up discussion to the Ars Technica article can be found here: [URL]http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=809003207631[/URL] if you want to read more.

So basically, I wanted your views on the whole Operation Clark County thing? How would you react if you had a letter from a complete stranger in a foreign country asking you to vote for somebody in particular? Would you consider writing to people in Clark County (or anywhere else where a similar campaign was run)?

I've just been reading more of those letters.

I guess what I'd;ve written would've been close to this one:

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

Fantastic.

And here's one of the funnier ones:

THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS HAVE SPENT TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS PROTECTING THE PEOPLES OF THE EU, AND WHAT DO WE GET IN RETURN. BETRAYAL, BETRAYAL, BETRAYAL. I HAVE BEEN TO YOUR COUNTRY, THE COUNTRY OF MY ANCESTORS, AND I KNOW WHY THEY LEFT.

MAY YOU HAVE TO HAVE A TOOTH CAPPED. I UNDERSTAND IT TAKES AT LEAST 18 MONTHS FOR YOUR GREAT MEDICAL SERVICES TO GET AROUND TO YOU. HAVE A GREAT DAY.
Harlan, Kentucky

ah, bless... :-)

Read a Mark Steyn/Stein/don't care article in the Telegraph - basically saying 'not all people who voted for Bush are rednecks' - they're normal decent folk. AND LOOK AT THE EU, THAT'S EVIL!

And of course, becase stereotyping is bad, ALL liberals randomly tar Bush voters with the same brush, and don't udnerstand anything about the US world. Yes....

I wonder what the Americans would think reading all this...


"You know those Brits love their irony when they start calling US arrogant! :-S".


I mean, look at us...
And some of those letters were perfectly reasonable.

Letters like that are to be expected from a country that in some areas do not teach any scientific theories that contradict fundamentalist christianity.
I'm just glad that in this country I was taught science and religion seperately and given the choice to choose what I wanted to believe in.

And I believe a large number of americans cannot point their country out on a world map.

Having said that, a good deal of the replies here are just as biggoted and arrogant as those letters. Remember people, it wasn't every American that sent a reply, just the ones who were pisssed off enough to do so.

I bet that for every stupid arrogant "wE kicked out your ASSESS and SAVed you from spEaking GERman!!!11!!!!11" there were atleast 9 "and those crazy limies say WE interfere! :-D".

I mean seriously, American, English, it's nowt to do with it.
If you send a letter to someone telling them how to vote then you're asking for abuse. And some of these letters, they're just asking to be laughed at.
Whether that means we're laughing WITH the person who wrote it, or laughing at them... well if they were stupid enough to write something like that with serious intentions... I guess that's their problem. :-)

Of course it is Lakers.

But the USA also feels it has a God given right/duty to interfere ALL OVER THE WORLD with elections.

A few letters from the Guardian aren't going to change the deepset mindset of Republicans and yes, the Democrats over there at all....

I can see their point though, i know what the reaction would be if an American paper told the British how to vote

*ooooh the Americans are sticking their big fat noses in other people\'s business again, why can\'t they just stay out of it?*

Why should it be any different the other way around? Let the Americans decide who to vote for on their own, granted they don\'t have much to choose (i\'ll refer you to Light\'s great vaseline example hehe) but it\'s their choice, not anyone elses.

I'm glad I've had no experiences with Americans with either of my hands, first or second :S

Americans do my head in. They think they're the be all and end all of greatness.

I've just got back. I don't say this without first-hand experience.

EDIT: Back from America. I should say.

Read a letter in The Week from an American to the Independant or something - saying 'thanks for your concern, but *brings up war of Independance, as that's a neccessity of being a US citizen, apparantly - and again, the FRENCH?* and we'll have our own elections without any interference, thanks'.

Except, when hasn't the US interfered with other nations electoral processes? By their logic, the entire world should attempt to influence theirs, seeing the significance of it all.........!