Or "the sadness of missed opportunities".
I'm a Canadian.
I'm on Obama's mailing list. He sends me plenty of letters asking me to become involved in things that don't allow someone outside of the US to register for. His donation page allows ex-pat donations only with a US Passport Number or Alien Resident # number. I only have a Canadian passport, and no one can tell me what an Alien Resident # is.
(So I donate to ActBlue)
I'm on Move-On's mailing list. They send me plenty of letters asking me to host parties, and register them with Move On. I do the former (as there are lots of other ex-pats up here), but can't do the latter, because they don't allow someone outside of the US to register.
It's frustrating, but what is even more frustrating is that when I respond to these message, complaining about these things, it takes weeks to get a response, if I even get one.
According to the 1999 census, there were over 4 million Americans living abroad. There's a "thehill.com" article from earlier this year that says 4-7 million. That makes us between the 13th and 27th largest voting block, counting states and territories.
I've yet to meet an American here in Nova Scotia who likes the direction the country has gone over the last 8 years, and the vast majority are very enthusiastic about Obama. I would wager they vote at least 4-to-1 Democratic.
That's a potential net of 2.4 million votes for Obama.
But more than that, many of these people are willing to give their time and money to reach out to voters in the US.
I've got a spreadsheet of 30+ ex-pats willing to vote, and I'm trying to organize a calling party for later this month, long distance charges be damned!
But I'm just one guy, and as long as the major players treat us like second class citizens, they are missing out on a major resource.
So some basic suggestions:
* If you are putting together a program that can't be used by those outside the US, DON'T EMAIL US ABOUT IT!
* If we told you in the past that we can't donate, STOP SENDING US FUNDRAISING EMAILS.
Of course, better than this would be to design your programs to be used internationally, and make clear that if someone can't donate directly, what other causes they could donate to.
UPDATE:
Wow.
Perhaps the trolls were just out in force, but no one else gives a damn that our largest organizations are more or less ignoring a huge resource for their major programs?