AMBASSADOR SPEECHES

Remarks by Ambassador Robert J. Callahan
U.S. Election Watch 2008

November 4, 2008

U.S. Embassy, Managua

To the esteemed Jaime Morales Carrazo, Vice President of Nicaragua and his beautiful wife, distinguished guests, welcome to our U.S. Elections Celebration!

It is a special pleasure to welcome so many Nicaraguan government officials, the Diplomatic Corps, students and staff from the Nicaraguan-American Cultural Center and of course U.S. citizens resident in Nicaragua, who most assuredly have voted by now.
This is has been an extraordinary campaign and election period.

Two glass ceilings have been broken.

No matter what happens tonight, either an African American or a woman will be elected to the highest offices in our nation for the first time in history.

Over the past 220 years, the electorate in the U.S. has expanded from white male property owners to one where any citizen over age 18, no matter what race, gender, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, can vote.  We’re witnessing the ultimate expression of that expansion of the franchise with the first African American and woman on the ticket for president and vice president of the United States.  We are watching history in the making. 

Martin Luther King would be proud today that his dream for America is being realized.  In 1963 he dreamed that “my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  That day has come.  Today we can truthfully tell all children born in the U.S. “you can grow up to be President of the United States.”

I should mention that there are many other races being decided tonight as well: governors, the entire House of Representatives and one third--34 seats--of the US Senate as well as judges, school board members, mayors and referenda of all types.  You can see some of the issues on the copies of actual absentee ballots posted on the wall.  These officials also reflect our population with candidates representing most every major religion and ethnic group, including of course, Latinos, Blacks, Asians, Arabs and descendents of European immigrants.

Over the past 220 years, we’ve had 56 presidential elections just like clockwork every four years.  No matter what was occurring in the nation, the Civil War, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the two World Wars--presidential elections have occurred every four years.
Throughout all of those elections we have had regular turn over of parties in the presidency as well as Congress.  This turn over guarantees no party becomes too strong, no person becomes too powerful, and the Constitution remains the supreme law of the land. 

We’ve had presidents die in office and one who resigned.  We’ve had a president who was never elected either president or vice president.  We’ve had presidents who won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote.  We’ve had presidential elections which were decided by the House of Representatives or the Supreme Court, but despite this, the final outcome has been respected because we believe in the primacy of the Constitution which can only be changed through the vote of the people.

So as we wait to see who will become the 44th President of the United States, we have many activities to entertain and educate you about this important democratic event in the history of our nation.

Under the stairs is a Mock Voting Booth – of course just for fun.  Voting will close at 9:00 p.m. and we’ll announce the result of the simulated vote.

As I mentioned, it’s worth taking a look at the copies of actual absentee ballots from different states, posted on the walls, which show the great variety of elections and issues by state and county.

We’ll also keep this giant Electoral College map updated as results are announced for the presidential candidates.  Under our system, the first candidate to receive the magic number of 270 electoral votes wins.

We’ll also color in the map of the 34 Senate races which are being contested to see which party will control that important legislative body.

There are television monitors throughout to monitor the voting, exit polls, and official returns so that you can see how the election is organized and share in this democratic celebration with the people of the United States.

In the back area are videos of the biographies of both Barack Obama and John McCain so you can get to know the candidates.

Throughout the room there are staff with our logo “Estamos Unidos” (We are United) on their shirts, like mine, who can answer your questions.

Finally, I wish you all a pleasant evening, and thank you for celebrating the 2008 elections with us!

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