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AMERICA'S ELECTION: LONDON, PART 1

Clutching a cocktail in a glitzy West End bar, Steve Dorey cut a sombre figure of concern. "It's McCain," he said, shaking his head with resignation.

With the polls hours from closing, the British IT salesman explained why he believed America would be waking up to a painful post-mortem. "There's something engrained in the American psyche," he explained. "In their minds, most Americans want to vote for Obama. But in their heart, they're quietly nursing doubts of whether the country is really ready for a black president. And it's at that private moment--that point of purchase--where the senses jam."

Such eloquent scepticism could come only from an Englishman bruised by the past. His guarded sense of fatalism captured the mood of a country that found itself struck with America's election fever, but vehemently contained in its excitement. It wasn't just to do with fears of the so-called "Bradley effect". It was a product of despair over the last eight years of George Bush's presidency.

And what about the threat of an "October surprise"? Couldn't an Osama bin Laden video turn up at the offices of CNN with only a few hours of polling left? And if Barack Obama did indeed win the election, should we fear a right-wing reprisal? Or, worst of all, his assassination? ("Fifteen attempts already, and he hasn't even got the top job yet," one punter crudely remarked.)

Such questions peppered specially hosted American election parties all over London last night. This kind of public engagement is almost unheard of in British elections, let alone foreign ones. But the evening had a pure sense of occasion about it. Not only was it a climactic contest between two potential leaders with radically different worldviews. It was the feeling that future generations would one day ask where we were the day America's first black president was voted into office.

Of course, the interconnectivity of our freemarket economy has only added to foreign interest. The old saying, "when America sneezes..." has come home to roost. And as a reminder, the FTSE100 was up 90.1 when the markets closed last night, with analysts pointing to an "Obama bounce" from confidence that America's first black president was moving closer to the White House.

"Issues such as the global financial crisis have really crystallised people's attention on how decisions made in America can effect us here", explained Clive Webb, a reader of American studies at Sussex University. "The advent of the communications age has also allowed us closer access to American culture, be it Tina Fey's political satire or social networking. And after eight years of animosity towards America, people do want to believe in the American Dream again--many more than are probably willing to admit."

All that remained then was choosing which party to attend. London's American embassy hosted over 1,500 people, including Ian Paisley, a former Northern Ireland minister, and Josh Hartnett, an American actor. Other parts of the city saw more gritty, informal gatherings, such as Camberwell's Sun and Doves, which combined election coverage with a screening of "Brokeback Mountain", the so-called gay cowboy movie (draw your own political conclusions).

In London's infamous Leicester Square, Yate's, a popular London pub chain, had appealed to the popular vote with a £35-a-ticket programme that included election coverage as well as American singers blasting the Star-Spangled Banner just before midnight. The climax of the night was a mock ballot described by organisers as "partially indicative of British opinion but statistically insignificant".

Other events were more lavish and exclusive. Inside Shoreditch's recondite members club, the East Room, guests were asked for their political allegiances at the door. Upon arrival, Republican supporters were presented with a rifle and Bible; Democrats with food stamps and a tax bill (all on top of the steep ticket price of £125). In return, guests could claim limitless supplies of Rolling Rock beer, fried catfish, Texas BBQ and blueberry pie, as well as the disconcerting site of a flirtatious Sarah Palin transvestite.

But the partisan concept had some snags. By 10:30pm stocks of Democrat tickets were entirely depleted, while only seven of the assigned 100 Republican tickets had been purchased (four thought to be ironic). That's not to say there wasn't Republican interest. "One American guest had enquired exactly what model of rifles they were planning to give out and whether licenses were also supplied," observed Jonathan Downey, the owner of the East Room. "I had to politely explain that they were in fact toy rifles and offer a ticket refund."

This was in contrast to another event in Moorgate: an alumni evening for the Mountbatten Institute, a transatlantic exchange programme for American and British graduates. The room, bedecked in American flags and balloons, saw over 200 American and British alumni turn out to watch the drama unfold. The night included a mock debate between Democrat and Republican advocates, who reinforced both parties' key lines on tax, foreign policy and the relevance of executive experience. Mid-way through the debate, a young, inebriated American woman interrupted both speakers: "I just love America. That's all I know," she said, snatching the microphone, eyes earnestly closed, speech slurred. Sighs prevailed in the audience. "You're exactly the reason why Bush got into power, moron!" replied a truculent British heckler.

It's easy to assume all Brits are baiting for Republican blood, but the reality is more complicated. Over the course of the night, I encountered many who spoke passionately about the Republican project, but few who didn't regret how much the core values had been stained over the last eight years. "The damage that George Bush has done to America's reputation has been the cause of McCain's unpopularity in this election," said Anton Muszanskyj, a manager at Corporation of London, who had offered an intelligent pro-McCain argument at the debate earlier in the evening. "Obama's tried to paint McCain as a Bush-style Republican, but he's not. He's rebelled frequently in the Senate, in contrast to Obama who has been cannon fodder for the Democratic whips. He has a deep interest in climate change, and is prepared to assess foreign policy areas outside of America's direct interest such as Darfur."

Anthony Downie, a legal headhunter based in London, landed in New York to start his internship on September 10^th 2001. "That day in New York I was very supportive of George Bush and thought his response had been measured," he said. "I was even a keen backer of the war in Afghanistan and thought ridding the world of the Taliban was the right thing to do. But the decision to invade Iraq was so utterly perplexing. Whether the intelligence got it wrong, or the politicians made it up, all the evidence was flimsy. You have to ask yourself the question, just what has America got out of Iraq?"

It was a sentiment that only added to the sense that America--and the world--was on the cusp of something historic. Something that could even finally silence the English cynics. The bell had barely struck midnight (with polls only just starting to close in America) when first editions of Britain's newspapers had committed themselves with headlines such as "The History Man" and "A New World Dawns". But inside the East Room bar, which by then resembled an airport waiting lounge, party attendees were too nervous to celebrate just yet. In November 2004, Britain went to bed hopeful and woke up with a hangover. This time neither sleep nor complacence would allow anything to be left to chance. A new world dawns, indeed.

Picture credit: Kunal Dutta & Louis de Rohan

(Kunal Dutta is a journalist based in London.)