Democrats Abroad: The Blue Vote Café

Former Anchor/Correspondent at ABC News and former Co-Host and News Anchor at "Good Morning America" Kevin Newman joins David and Rachel to reflect on the 2024 presidential campaign, the changing media landscape, and the challenge of reaching independent voters.

He talks about living and working in the U.S. as a Canadian journalist, and how complex the U.S. electoral system is compared to Canada's.

The conversation also gets into how to vote one's home country from abroad, and about how important it is that we all exercise that right.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Yvette Lewis, former chair of the Maryland State Party and Chair Emerita of Voter Engagement and Education for the Association of State Democratic Chairs, was the keynote speaker for the Democrats Abroad annual global meeting in Costa Rica.

After the meeting, Rachel sat down with her to talk about what drew her into her work, an expansive view of voter protection, Angela Alsobrooks's victory as the Democratic nominee to represent Maryland in the Senate.

Chair Lewis shares a few personal reflections on Presidents Obama and Biden and Vice President Harris, and strongly urges listeners to PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE POLLS.

Watch Chair Lewis talking about Rapid Response in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQt8dm5PNMs

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org .

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Founded on July 23 with a goal of raising $1000, #MastodonforHarris blew past a quarter of a million dollars within two days. Its founder--legal scholar, philosopher, and grassroots acitivist Heidi Li Feldman--shares her reasons for starting the campaign with Rachel and David.

She talks about the small-d democratic nature of Mastodon, and makes an inside joke for Minnesotans. Heidi also discusses the importance of local politics, common attributes of lawyers and law students, and Leaders from Law, which she founded to empower progressive lawyers and law students interested in poltical careers.

The conversation also turns to supreme court justices who substitute politics for legal reasoning, and an article she and Dahlia Lithwick wrote for Slate entitled "Let’s Stop Pretending Clarence Thomas Can Read the Framers’ Minds."

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Leaving David behind in Ottawa, Rachel travelled to Costa Rica for DA's annual global meeting.

When Day Two wrapped early, she caught the voices of 10 different DA leaders enjoying themselves in and around the pool--with an audiobomb from Friend of the Pod Miguel Madrigal.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Angela Fobbs and Adrianne George, the co-hosts of Power to the People (the Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus podcast) join Rachel and David in the cafe.

In this "podcast potluck," a special crossover episode, the four co-hosts each bring a question for everyone to answer.

The conversation ventures into new and fascinating territory, as each participant brings reflection and personal history to their responses.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

In one of our most wonk-ish episodes ever (complete with a cat!), mathematician Max Dunitz of DA France explains an intriguing situation that arose for the four or five states that used ranked choice voting in their 2020 presidential primaries.

Because the Democratic National Committee restricts the awarding of delegates to candidates that garner 15% of the votes, a hybrid version of ranked choice had to be devised, creating an interesting (and difficult) mathematical problem.

You can hear Max explaining it to Rachel and David, and you can read his paper on the subject on the SSRN (Social Science Research Network): https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4839562

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com

David and Rachel sit down with DA's International Chair and Vice Chair to talk about their first year on the job.

Martha McDevitt-Pugh and Steve Nardi share some of the triumphs from the year, touch upon some of the challenges, and outline the work ahead of us in 2024.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com

Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels joins David and Rachel to talk about her research into what motivates American citizens living outside the country to become politically engaged.

As the title of her most recent academic paper puts if, "Democrats abroad: What motivates core activists to engage in political transnationalism?"

Amanda confirms some of the speculation that has been bruited about the cafe since its founding, including the primary reason people move to a different country.

But you'll have to listen to learn what that is.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

David and Rachel are joined by leaders from Democrats Abroad's newest country committee, DA Kenya. Robyn T. Emerson (Chair) and Mohamed Ahmed (Treasurer) share the stories of how each connected with DA, and the founding of DA Kenya.

The discussion turns to a population unique to the "A" of DA's Europe-Middle East-Africa region: Americans of African descent; and touches on Mohamed's first votes as a person who has not yet turned 20; the importance of youth activism, particularly in addressing gun violence; and what it feels like to volunteer to help hold up the Democratic tent.

Mentioned in the episode: the Gun Violence Prevention Action Team Lauch with Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Pary, President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, and a Vice Chair of the Demcratic National Committee, joins David and Rachel in the café, substantiating his claim that he will accept any invitation to talk where there are at least two Democrats.

Quoting LBJ, Ann Richards, Margaret Mead, Ayanna Pressley, and Confucius, Ken discusses the importance of the vote from abroad, and its majority Democratic comosition.

Outlining the incredible story we have to tell about Biden and Harris's achievements to date, he urges Democrats to stop agonizing and start evangelizing.

While acknowledging that you don't have to love someone to vote for them, Ken shares compelling personal reflections on both Biden and Harris, as well as on his home state of Minnesota.