US election: Obama triumphs in Italy and abroad
Rome, 6 Feb.(AKI) - Presidential candidate Barack Obama triumphed in Italy after more than 600 American voters cast their ballots in the Democratic Party's primaries on Tuesday. US voters went to polling stations in Milan, Bologna, Florence and Rome to cast their votes on Tuesday, reported Italian daily La Repubblica. The Democratic Party is active in 75 countries while the Republican Party does not hold any primaries outside the continental United States. Obama's victory in Italy and other countries awarded him a large share of the 22 delegates asigned to foreign countries. His supporters stood outside polling stations in Rome, holding banners supporting the Illinois senator. "There are six million Americans living abroad, and for the first time the Democratic party has chosen to have primaries abroad, in over 30 countries," said Nina Gardner, daughter of former Ambassador to Italy Richard Gardner, who also voted for Obama. The president of the Italian chapter of Democrats Abroad, Anthony Sistilli, has said "We count like Wyoming", making reference to the sparsely populated US state. Italian caretaker youth and sports minister Giovanna Melandri, a dual Italian-American citizen, did not hide her preference for the Illinois senator outside the polling booth. "I have dual-citizenship, and today I voted for Obama, after thinking about it for a long time," she said. "In the end I decided that we need a new political family in the United States. The Italian minister also voiced her preference for the so-called 'dream ticket', of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as running mates for the 2008 election. "An Obama-Clinton ticket? It is a dream ticket." The Italian daily said Obama also received 75 percent of the vote in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country where he spent part of his childhood http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.1849719180 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
