On the Town With Americans Abroad for Hillary
I had my first taste of American politics abroad last night, at a small Hillary Clinton fund-raiser held at Janet’s Bar in South Kensington. Friends of mine, who’d been partying at Janet’s last week, had befriended the glamorous expat Janet and, simply out of curiosity, decided we'd have to attend.
Expecting rowdiness, perhaps something akin to a Super Bowl party (Come on, Hillary! Come on, Pennsylvania!), we instead found ourselves in the midst of a very earnest gathering indeed. My English companions marveled at how quiet, positive, studious, and lacking in cynicism our fellow guests seemed, failing to imagine a British equivalent. We ordered drinks, but the mixing of them had to be delayed while the head of Americans Abroad for Hillary gave a speech, a delegate gave a technical talk on the role of delegates and superdelegates, and Janet explained why she’d switched from Republican to pro-Hillary. Her reasons were refreshingly domestic: She spoke about stem-cell research, a woman’s right to choose, and the separation of church and state. She made a few uncomfortable references to Iraq, but by and large her points were good and delivered coherently.
It was an odd juxtaposition with the newspaper clippings and photos of drunken customers on the wall; the place is normally a quirky, thumping bar where Janet flexes her matchmaking skills. Not tonight, however.
Eventually our drinks appeared, but we weren’t in such a rush anymore. After all, it seemed hardly the done thing. By the time we’d finished them and had another round, most people had left. No doubt having pledged good sums of money, they were off home to watch the news.
