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COMMUNITY COMPASS: DAT’s the way Democrats do it

“Taiwan’s technology sector makes it home to many Americans, and in fact, many Democrats living abroad.” — Christine Schon Marques, international chairwoman of Democrats Abroad

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The Taiwan chapter of Democrats Abroad, the US Democratic Party organization for millions of US expatriates, recently announced that Democrats Abroad Taiwan (DAT) has been approved as the organization’s new country committee.

DAT executive committee consists of five enthusiastic leaders, including John Eastwood, a law firm partner who serves as DAT chairman, and Justine Chen, a senior policy researcher who serves as DAT vice chairwoman, a press release issued by the group said.

Other DAT members are: Michael Turton, DAT secretary; Josh Davis, an MBA student at National Sun Yat-sen University who is DAT treasurer; and David Bell, a graduate student in Chinese history at National Taiwan University who serves as DAT counsel.

Christine Schon Marques, international chairwoman of Democrats Abroad, said in the press release that members of the organization are pleased to welcome the establishment of DAT.

“Taiwan’s technology sector makes it home to many Americans, and in fact, many Democrats living abroad,” Marques said. “We know that under John Eastwood’s leadership, DAT will bring a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to the entire organization and will help expand the number of Democrats in Congress in 2010.”

Eastwood said that in the days after the US invaded Iraq, anyone who expressed serious concerns about what the country was doing would have their patriotism questioned.

“Although Democrats Abroad had previously been active in Taiwan, we had to start over in those difficult years,” Eastwood said.

By organizing social events, Eastwood said, he and like-minded friends living in Taiwan created a comfortable atmosphere for fellow Americans to talk about what was happening to their country politically.

When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, they began gaining some real momentum to further expand the scale of their activities.

Eastwood worked with longtime member Tammy Turner to organize a series of events and provide overseas voting information to fellow Democrats through elections in 2004, 2006 and last year. The effort received a boost when Bell and Cynthia Teeters joined forces with other Democrats to start efforts to establish DAT.

Democrats Abroad has committees throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Antipodes. These country committees keep Americans abroad informed of their rights and help them participate in the US political process.

The DAT will hold a Fourth of July fundraising party in Kaohsiung on Saturday.

The event, held at a bar close to Kaohsiung Railway Station, is open to anyone wishing to enjoy live music performance and drinks.

Americans can purchase a NT$400 donation ticket and participate in the raffle, the event’s organizer said.

The raffle will feature some Obama/Democrat-related items, including inauguration memorabilia.

For more information, visit www.democratsabroadtaiwan.org.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU

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