It's no secret that Kentuckians are paying close attention to this year's presidential race, because more than ever before people realize that the decisions made in Washington, D.C., have a significant impact here in the Bluegrass.
Of course, Washington's decisions also affect those far beyond our borders - so our votes will affect not simply the Bluegrass, but also everyone from Belize to Bhutan. Thanks to an innovative and insightful new Web site, Kentuckians now have the opportunity to hear their voices and consider their opinions as we make our choice.
Voices without Votes (www.voices withoutvotes.org) is an online project commissioned by Reuters and managed by Global Voices Online (www.global voicesonline.org). It aggregates and tracks what foreign bloggers and citizen journalists are saying about the U.S. elections. It was launched (fittingly) on Super Tuesday, and it has grown in scale and stature ever since.
"We have volunteers working on the site from practically every corner of the world, from Iraq to Madagascar, and Fiji to Canada, as well as translators who are active in bringing us voices in other languages," said Amira Al Hussaini, editor of Voices without Votes. "As the countdown to the elections continues, we are discovering new blogs and Web sites to add to our coverage, and more people are joining our team of volunteers."
Al Hussaini is the kind of global citizen that personifies the mission of Voices without Votes. She is the former news editor of the Gulf Daily News in Bahrain and currently lives in Canada. She won a prestigious United Nations journalism fellowship and covered both the General Assembly and the Security Council in 1996. In addition to her leadership of Voices without Votes, she serves as the Middle East and North Africa Editor of Global Voices Online. She's a leader in a global movement that uses the Internet to break barriers of all kinds - cultural, linguistic, and political - and build bridges between communities online and off.
She also has a fondness for Kentucky. Al Hussaini was invited to the Idea Festival in Louisville last year and sat on a panel with the University of Kentucky Patterson School's John Stempel and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to discuss issues of global peace. "I witnessed the Southern charm and hospitality for the first time in my life," she said. She hopes Kentuckians will show the same hospitality to foreign voices that they showed her last year.
"Voices without Votes is a witness to history in the making, where you can find international reactions to a breaking news story under one roof," Al Hussaini explained, "offering us an insight to how the world feels, thinks and reacts to the most fascinating race to the White House ever." At the site you can find global perspectives from bloggers and other citizen journalists on all the issues Ameri.
cans are discussing - John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, the rivalry between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and how the debates went.
So what does the rest of the world think of our country and the choice we face? Of course, the online community doesn't necessarily represent the world as a whole, but Al Hussaini has been able to make a few observations. While the chief concerns of most Americans are economic - the cost of food, fuel, health care and education, or the availability of good-paying jobs - most outside the country are not surprisingly looking at issues of peace and diplomacy.
"People really are looking up to the U.S. as the beacon of democracy and want to see a change - and a different policy from Washington, D.C., which has succeeded in dividing up the world into those who are with us and those who are against us," Al Hussaini said. "People all around the world, like some in the U.S., are tired of instability, wars and destruction at this day and age and are really rooting for an administration which will correct what they perceive as the mistakes of the current U.S. administration."
Given this attitude, it's not surprising that the world's candidate (or at least the non-American, online world's candidate) is Barack Obama. However, Al Hussaini takes great care to ensure that all points of view are included at Voices without Votes. "What really stands out though is the Obamamania which has taken the blogosphere by storm - making my job as editor and that of my colleagues a difficult balancing act," she said. "While it is easy to find international blogs supporting Obama, I literally have to appeal to my volunteer authors to look closely for and report on McCain stories. All the volunteers understand the nature of the project and are trying to portray all reactions as our goal is to rise above the political divisions, evident in U.S. blogs, and reflect what is being said in a timely manner, without taking sides."
While Voices without Votes gives non-Americans a chance to be heard, it also gives Kentuckians an important reminder of the power they possess. "The U.S. doesn't exist in a vacuum, and as the world's only superpower, decisions taken in Washington, D.C., impact not only the people of Kentucky, but those in South America, the Middle East, Asia and the rest of the world," Al Hussaini said. "And why shouldn't we all listen to each other? ... They are just talking, but you will be casting the ballot come November 4. The power is in your hands and the least you can do is listen to what they have to say."
David Wescott is a Lexington-based vice president for APCO Worldwide, a global public affairs firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. He writes a blog about technology and communications issues called "It's Not a Lecture," which can be found online at http://itsnotalecture.blogspot.com