Democrats Abroad gear up for November with dinners, debates

[babylonsister]

Democrats Abroad gear up for November with dinners, debates
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, August 3, 2008


HEIDELBERG, Germany — John McQueen, once a civil servant laboring within U.S. Army Europe’s logistics offices, calls himself a "left-wing Democrat, anti-war."

He needed company. So in 1994, he started the Heidelberg chapter of Democrats Abroad. "I wanted to get involved," said McQueen.

On Friday night, 14 years and many online newsletters later, McQueen sat at the usual table at Perkeo on Heidelberg’s Hauptstrasse. He was waiting for his fellow ex-pat Democrats to arrive for their monthly meeting, dinner and discussion. It was clear from the talk that followed, he was in his element.

There are eight chapters of Democrats Abroad in Germany, up from two in 1994, including one in Berlin with nearly 1,000 members, McQueen said. The Heidelberg chapter has about 250 members, of whom exactly one is a U.S. Army officer, according to chapter president Charles Keene.

Democrats Abroad is the overseas branch of the Democratic Party and will be sending delegates to the party convention.

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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56537

[Xipe Totec]

1. I do miss the vigorous political debates with my European friends nt