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Today's Faves: A Letter, a Song, and Dance for Obama

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe, Palestine, United Kingdom, Zambia, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Activism & Protest, Government & Politics

Voices without Votes continuously aggregates interesting links about the election from world bloggers. Our authors take turns picking their top 3 personal favorites every weekday.

Today's links are a little heavy on the Obama-side, but end in song and dance.

1) I find it fascinating how excited non-Americans can get about following U.S. elections. On SixFifty, British blogger Malcolm Clark shares a letter to a group of friends he met in Zambia [1] that explains his passion for Obama:

I have closely followed every little twist and turn of the election campaign; staying up late at night to watch live on screen the events unfolding, and tracking the conversations and first-hand experiences of activists via websites and blogs.

(…)

It is humbling to see people get so involved, to see the process of – in Obama’s words – “brick by brick, block by block, calloused hand by calloused hand, we can change the world”. And it also fires me up: both to want to take part, and also to try and apply those lessons to my job and to political activity in the UK in general….

2) England for Obama aren't impressed [2] with Sarah Palin's comments on Obama's tax plan on CNN.

Seriously. This is the sort of talk that makes one think Americans are living in a parallel universe. One in which Barack Obama is a ’socialist’; in which giving a tax break to normal people, as opposed to millionaires, is ’spreading the wealth’; and one in which the notions of socialism and spreading the wealth are horrifying/disgusting/unpatriotic/insert derogatory adjective of your choice here.

3) And finally, via Arab-American blogger Will, on Kabobfest [3], a link to yet another Obama music video in Spanish. The full lyrics are on Fosforo.net [4].

Cumbia for Obama

Ya es hora para un cambio, no podemos esperar.
[It's time for a change, we can't wait.]
Unamos nuestras banderas, juntos vamos a votar.
[We'll unite our flags, together we'll vote.]
Niños, padres, y ciudadanos, desde las sierras hasta el mar
[Kids, parents, and citizens, from the mountains to the sea]
En el mundo del futuro, todo vamos a contar.
[In the world of the future, our votes will all count.]