The caucus comes to town: Democrats meet in London, UK, to choose their man

In a Bloombsury hotel on a chilly February night, elegant women carrying New York public library bags mixed with city types in power suits and younger folk in chinos and loafers. They had one thing on their mind: getting rid of President George Bush and finding the Democrat candidate to deliver them that result.

Stanley Grossman, a mathematician from New York, now living in London, said: "My grandmother, who is dead, would make a better President than George Bush. He has ruined the economy."

Mr Grossman, an academic who is supporting Senator Howard Dean, was typical of the hundreds of Democrats who had travelled from as far as the Orkneys to attend Britain's official Democrat caucus.

A former academic at University College London, Mr Grossman has written over 30 text books on mathematics, but has more recently branched out into business- developing a test for date-rape drugs. But the former maths professor is so incensed by the Bush administration that he has launched a one-man recruitment drive to attract people to the Democrat cause in Britain. As membership secretary of the UK Democrats he has signed up hundreds of Americans, many of whom have not voted for years. Britain, which has almost 2,500 members, now has more registered Democrats than any other country outside the United States - including Canada .

American Democrats are angry. Across the US, people have been turning out in record numbers to vote in the Democratic primaries, inspired by a desire to get rid of President Bush, probably the most polarising president of recent years.

In the eastern state of Maine, which held its caucuses at the weekend, about 20,000 people voted, up from the previous record of about 11,000 in 1992. In the agricultural heartland of Iowa, the first state to hold a primary, the caucuses drew around 120,000 people - double the usual number. Officials said that the number of younger voters increased four-fold.

Mr Grossman, who was wearing a denim shirt and jeans, talked purposefully about the up-coming presidential election and said that he felt passionately that Mr Dean was the right candidate to take on President Bush.

He said that he felt so strongly that he had written him Mr Dean cheque - with a figure he would not disclose - and hadtravelled to Washington to meet him. "All the candidates have charisma. But what impressed me was his integrity," he said.

The academic said that Mr Dean had taken time out to talk to Americans living abroad several times via conference calls. But he admitted, with some regret, that his primal scream outburst after the Iowa primary might have "ruined his campaign".

Democrats abroad count as America's 51st state at the Democrat Convention in Boston in July and bring with them nine valid votes for the potential presidential candidates. They may have been thousands of miles away from home, but their votes, and those of other ex-pats living abroad, carry the same weight as half of Alaska and Wyoming according to the party's rules.

At the rally, mothers mingled with writers and bankers and students and the rivalry between the candidates' supporters was palpable - as was the patriotism in the air. The Stars and Stripes was blue-tacked to the hotel wall, and everybody got to their feet to pledge allegiance to the flag.

Stephen Arbuthnot, a Howard Dean backer, attracted cheers with a pointed attack on the Republicans. He said: "The flag of the United States does not belong to one party, it belongs to all of us."

The conference hall was clearly full of anti-Bush sentiment, and this was uniting the Democrat fray.

Sharon Manitta, a textile conservator from Syracuse New York who now lives in Salisbury, said: "I don't take any pleasure in being disrespectful to my President but this man has done such horrific things to my country. I would hate to say that this is an anti-Bush event. But it is. George Bush is the best recruiter Democrats have got."

The the anti-Bush factor, and the first whiff of vulnerability from the White House, had an energising effect on recruitment to the Democrat cause in Britain. On Monday evening the hotel was overflowing with over 700 Democrats - some of whom had not attended a Democratic Party meeting for over 30 years. Many of them were getting out their cheque books to write out large donations for John Kerry, Mr Dean and General Wesley Clark. Others had quit work to campaign.

It was not always like this. At the last UK Democrat caucus in 2000, before Al Gore was selected, only about 40 people bothered to turn up.

Angelique Fernandes, an actress from New York, said: "This turnout and energy is phenomenal. It's four years of Bush that has done it. People are saying 'I haven't voted for 30 years' and now they are here because of Bush."

But the Democrats were not just there to trade anecdotes about the Republican party failings. There was opprobrium for Tony Blair, once Bill Clinton's greatest ally, who Democrats believe has sold out. His outright support for Mr Bush over Iraq and the President's subsequent state visit to the UK was tantamount to endorsing the Bush presidency, they said.

There were mutterings that Mr Blair was not a true Democrat supporter, unlike Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, who is said to be a die-hard backer of Mr Kerry. On the lapels of designer jackets were badges reading: "Bliar".

Robert Wallis, an American photographer, said: "I was shocked to see a Labour government fall in step with a right-wing American administration. Blair's support for Bush has really bolstered Bush's position in the United States. The Labour party has to look hard at why they are legitimising the Bush administration." Mr Wallis said he was backing Mr Kerry, the patrician front-runner and former war hero, because he believed that he was "the most likely to beat Bush."

The Kerry camp, wearing red, white and blue stickers with the slogan "John Kerry - President" were confident and energised by his string of wins in primaries. Senator Kerry's cousin Laura Winthrop, 26, who has recently completed a degree at Cambridge University, was at the caucus to extol his political acumen - as well as his footballing skills.

"We had a soccer match every year. He is a great soccer player," she said. "With momentum of the campaign in the US, Democrats are realising he is the most viable contender to take on Bush. We believe that John Kerry is the Democrat who can go toe to toe with the current administration."

As the primaries and caucuses have rolled across America, the surge of support for the Massachusetts senator has grown. He has clearly been seen by voters as the candidate with the greatest chance of beating Mr Bush. In Iowa, where Mr Kerry came from behind to score a convincing victory over Mr Dean, Democrats repeatedly talked of Mr Kerry's "electability".

The desire to oust Mr Bush is also likely to see Democrats united behind whichever candidate is chosen. Candidates such as Mr Dean have made clear that they will support whomever is selected.

In London, the Kerry contingent was by far the largest and noisiest, but the Dean, Edwards and Clark camps were also there in force - waving the Stars and Stripes. There was also a sole supporter of Joe Lieberman - who has officially dropped out of the race.

Even a backer of the Rev Al Sharpton read out a campaign letter from the candidate - apologising for failing to "do justice to his rhetorical style."

A letter from the headquarters of left-wing congressman, Dennis Kucinich, which repeatedly stressed the need to appeal to lesbians gay men and people who had sex changes, took the caucus aback momentarily as delegates exchanged bemused glances.

There was further bafflement as it emerged that the world wide respresentive for General Wesley Clark was in Antarctica. So David Durst - a charistmatic currency options dealer with connections with the Clintons, made the case for him.

"General Clark has one of the most impressive credentials of any person to ever run for President. He is a man who has a unique ability to fix the mess that the Bush administration has gotten us into," he said.

But only hours later - after Clarke failed to get the required votes to see him through to the final round - Mr Durst was spotted with Kerry for President stickers blocking out the "Clark New American Patriotism" logo on his T-shirt. He was also spotted twisting arms of wealthy ex-pats to financially back the Kerry cause.

The former war hero gained the lions share of support in the caucus -giving the candidate 17 votes from Britain in the international caucus.

But there was vocal support too for Howard Dean who came in seond with gained 7 votes, despite his campaign-destroying 'Primal Scream'.

Supporters wearing "the doctor is in - Howard Dean" - declared Dean the most principled of the candidates and rejected claims that he was out of the race after his Iowa outburst.

"Dean is the only candidate who cares about women's issues, Who talks about welfare," said Judith Sullivan. "I am not bothered about the primal scream."

Another woman concured: :I don't think that being passionate is a crime," she said.

But a late challenge from the John Edwards camp proved the most exciting turn-around on Monday night.

Just as it looked like the boyish former millionaire lawyer would gain no votes from the British Democrats, support him rallied at the 11th hour.

In what could prove a cipher for the charismatic campaigner's performance in the states, the Edwards campaign in the UK managed to win over enough backing from the Clark camp to turn his loss into a win.

A bona fide senator from New Hampshire was largely responsible for Mr Edwards' late rally in London. Senator Lou D'Allesandro, a Democrat of Calabrian descent, had travelled from the States to bolster his cause.

"He has a vision of optimism for America and he has a vision that will restore hope," the senator announced to cheers from the mainly-middle class audience. "He is just like me the first in the family to go to college. Edwards' mother and father worked in a mill. "

It was enough to win over "floating voters" gain him enough votes to send his campaign forward among the ex-pats. But the crucial test is on the other side of the Atlantic.

DEMOCRATS ABROAD

By Hugh Macleod

Democrats in more than 40 countries have been turning out in record numbers to vote for the man they want to run for the White House.

In previous election years, these overseas caucuses have stirred little interest. Many of the 7 million Americans living abroad have been put off by the complicated voting procedures and a feeling of distance from events in their homeland.

But US foreign policy is causing a stir across the world, and on the receiving end of an often biting anti-Americanism in their host countries, expatriates communities have been politicised like never before.

At their caucus meeting in Tokyo on Sunday, 156 Democrats turned up to vote, four times more than in 1996 and 2000; 600 attended in Paris where 300 had been expected.

Meanwhile, the crowd at the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury in London on Monday was so large that there was barely room to stand. With so many heads in the way, the candidates' messages had to be read out rather played on the video screen as planned.

"Democrats are really, really energised. This organisation has more than doubled in size in the last 12 months," Rachel Valladeres, international chairwoman of the Democratic Party Abroad, told the assembled crowd.

"We've got branches in parts of the world we've never had before. Austria [as a branch] didn't exist four weeks ago. We've got 68 people in Armenia -- I didn't know we even had any Americans in Armenia! South Africa, Malawi, Kenya and Cameroon have started up in the last two months. We've had caucuses in Bosnia, Korea, Colombia."

Many, such as Gary Suwannarat, Democrats Abroad Chair in Thailand, trace the galvanising moment to Bush's controversial election victory in 2000, in which Jebb Bush, Florida's Governor, stood accused of mishandling overseas votes and thus aiding his brother's passage to the White House.

They may not get much of a say in what the Democratic National Committee decides -- nine delegates with full voting privileges and seats compared to the 154 from Michigan - but Americans abroad know which man they want running for the White House. Straw poll results from the weekend showed John Kerry was the clear favourite.