A few hours after the second US presidential debate, I marched to the Central Post Office to cast my vote. Two postmen served as witnesses to my absentee ballot that I sent to the courthouse in tiny Perry County, Alabama. There, I hope, the county clerk will enter my vote for the Democratic ticket - Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Never have I been so excited about my right to vote for the US president. Never have the stakes seemed so high. In Barack Obama, I see a candidate who could restore the values that made me proud to be an American abroad - our record of tolerance, compassion, and support for multilateral institutions that have helped lower trade barriers, reduce poverty and disease, and give many nations a seat at the global table.
Eight years of wilful destruction of these institutions under the Bush administration have often made me want to rush for the door; the thought has crossed my mind more than once to give up my US citizenship. The Republican ticket frankly scares me - I see a dangerous hawk in John McCain. In Sarah Palin, the Republicans seems to have calculated that Americans will vote for a candidate who is, frankly, so bad that she makes the worst among us feel good. By no stretch does it seem right for Mrs Palin to be close to the nuclear trigger. I would say the same for Senator McCain.
Yet, as a long-term American expatriate, I have often taken the privilege of voting for granted. I grew up outside the US, in Southeast Asia and, since turning 18, I have spent more than two decades abroad, in China, Japan, and other countries. Frequently I haven't bothered to vote; often it has required enormous effort and, even more often, the choices just haven't been that great.
This time, I feel different. The two US party organisations in Hong Kong, Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad, have participated in radio and TV debates, and voter-registration drives. Hong Kong for Obama, initially a tiny group that could fit around a table at Starbucks, has now grown to an enthusiastic group of more than 100.
Do our votes matter? As American residents of Hong Kong, we make up a tiny minority of the population: according to the 2006 Hong Kong census, there are 13,608. The US consulate estimates the number at 50,000. But the answer is 'yes', even if on the margins. Every vote really does count, as was shown most notably in the 2000 presidential election, when the margin was so tiny in Florida that a recount challenge went all the way to the US Supreme Court.
