US citizens based in London voting for Trump. (Request)

Hello,

I am a student journalist and I'm writing a news feature and profile on the US Elections.
I am hoping to speak with a London-based US citizen who is voting in the US Elections for Donald Trump.

What I'd like to do is get the perspective of an American on our media's portrayal and reporting about Trump as well as a bit about why you're voting for him and what changes you'd like to see him make to the country.

I am not looking to write a derisory or sarcastic piece. I am genuinely interested in speaking seriously with somebody and getting to grips with their thoughts on the election, Trump, Clinton and the state of the US in general. This would be after the election next week, so win or lose it would be good to also get your reaction to the result.

This is potentially going to be pitched to one or more outlets and it would need to be on the record, so you would be named and hopefully would be open to a picture being taken. This doesn't mean it would definitely be published, just that there is the possibility.

Happy to buy you a coffee and have a chat. It wouldn't take forever and I would greatly appreciate it. I can provide credentials.

If you're interested, please PM me or reply here and I'll PM you. Apologies to the mods if this is against the rules, I just thought this would be a good place to ask.

Many thanks.

I'm voting for Clinton, but I'm feeling like it's like choosing between a bowl of cole slaw (I hate it) and a sh*t sandwich. Neither candidate will do much to make things better. At this point it's about who will make things less worse.

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I'm voting for Clinton, but I'm feeling like it's like choosing between a bowl of cole slaw (I hate it) and a sh*t sandwich. Neither candidate will do much to make things better. At this point it's about who will make things less worse.

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Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Are you based in London at all? The reason I ask is that I have been having trouble finding someone based here who is voting for Trump who would be willing to speak on the record about it, even though it's not nailed on that the piece would ever be published, so I am considering broadening my scope a bit and speaking with someone who is voting for Clinton but as a lesser of two evils would also be something I'd be interested in doing. Just wondering, if you are London based, whether you would be open to that? Thanks.

Perhaps you should contact the Republican Party?  The democrats have an organisation called "Democrats Abroad ", the Republicans must have an equivalent.  You should be able to find a real Trump voter. 

Perhaps you should contact the Republican Party?  The democrats have an organisation called "Democrats Abroad ", the Republicans must have an equivalent.  You should be able to find a real Trump voter.

There is a Republican equivalent that I have contacted but unfortunately have not yet heard back. I have been able to find a few just by putting the word out on social media and via platforms like Reddit but have found some reluctance to be identified and named in the feature and I'm not really in a position to profile an anonymous person. I will persevere!

Perhaps you could do a story on the fact that the overseas voters seem to be overwhelmingly in favour of Clinton (just a guess based on the opinion here) even though Obama has introduced tax reporting requirements that are onerous to say the least.  The Republican Party has it in their platform that they would change this, and other details about the ways that we are taxed that would make our lives much simpler.  Yet, most of us are enthusiastically shooting ourselves in the foot by voting Democrat.  And we don't even live there to suffer through a Trump presidency.   Why are we willing to make this sacrifice? 

Please don't write another article pushing the intellectually lazy false equivalence that one is just as bad as the other. 

Maybe the real story is why you can't find one Trump voter who is willing to be publicly identified?   Something is going on there that's way more interesting than "all politicians are the same so I don't pay no attention "

How about writing about the fact that after Brexit, the winners thought society had finally given them permission to openly abuse and even murder foreigners on the street.  Racist and hate crimes went through the roof.  What's going to happen in America under President Trump?  Open season on Muslims and Mexicans?  If the same phenomenon happens in the states it will be huge .

I should clarify: The news feature is separate from the profile. So, whilst I could certainly write about many of the things you've all mentioned above in the news feature, the profile is a (short) story based mainly off of an interview with a (hopefully) interesting person. A Republican intending to vote for Donald Trump in a left-leaning city like London with a media and citizenship that is almost uniformly anti-Trump is an interesting figure and, I believe, would make for an interesting profile piece.

But as I've said, I am willing to open things up but as yet I am finding it hard to find anyone willing to talk with me. I understand it's a time commitment and, really, the subject isn't getting anything out of it other than the remote possibility that the piece may be published (and many people have told me any sort of publication would make them less likely to talk to me.)

I have a little time. The election is of course next week, so if I could speak with someone within a few days of the result, great. If not, well, I have one or two backup ideas but it would be a shame, for me at least.

Perhaps you should look on a forum for UKIP voters and ask if there are any Americans about.

I know you didn't come here for an argument or criticism so I am trying to be helpful and nice.  But I can't help but point out that the accurate approach IS for you to publish an anonymous profile because that's what they are.  It sounds like you are trying to find somebody who's unpopular opinion you can highlight as of it is just as important as everyone else's.  But it's not, it's so wrong and niche that it will take you days to find.  Someone looking at your article will think "I see, there are two equally valid sides to what overseas voters think ", when that is plainly inaccurate.

Why don't you do your profile on somebody who is both interesting and fits the profile of the majority of voters? 

Journalism like this is why half the people think that climate change denial is a perfectly valid point of view.  After all, there are two sides to every argument.

Seriously, good luck with your article and I hope it adds to the sum total of world knowledge.

PS.  Maybe you could ask Boris? 

I don't necessarily disagree with you, jimbo. But as mentioned in the original post, I am a student journalist and my lecturer, who is also my de-facto editor in this instance, has set certain parameters for the profile.

It is my personal feeling that if somebody holds a view, especially an unpopular one, they should be able to defend it in the cold light of day. This means both that they are willing to put their name to it *and* are given a platform for doing so. This is why, aside from it being something I've been told I simply cannot do on this particular piece, I wouldn't want an anonymous profile subject. As I've said, I am willing to speak with a Clinton voter, but to be honest it isn't like I have floods of them offering to speak with me either!

It sounds like you are trying to find somebody who's unpopular opinion you can highlight as of it is just as important as everyone else's.  But it's not, it's so wrong and niche that it will take you days to find.  Someone looking at your article will think "I see, there are two equally valid sides to what overseas voters think ", when that is plainly inaccurate.

Hear, hear

The story may indeed be the quietness of the right....pollsters have had to factor it into their models now.

I'm really enjoying this discussion, so thanks for sticking with me when you've got work to do.

I disagree with your assertion that unpopular views should be given a platform.  I don't think that they should be censored, but I don't think that they should be featured just because they make for a sensational story.  Your professor is trying to get you to feature a view that is unpopular  so prominently that it could be seen as a valid counterpoint when it is not.  Sounds like they are training you to write click bait. 

"10 reasons Expats are voting for Trump..Number 7 will shock you!"

At least can you make it clear in the profile that this view is overwhelmingly unpopular and why?  The truth will do just fine.

Oh, for sure. If I were able to find a London based US expat voting for Trump to speak with me, explaining the sheer difficulty of finding one alone would illustrate his unpopularity among expats and that even his own expat supporters are reluctant to talk publicly about their vote. I never had any intention of presenting a profile without context and the context is that almost certainly the majority of expats based here will be Democrats or at least certainly not Trump voters. But I am also conscious the left-wing media (and I do consider myself to be left-wing) has made a sport of making fun of Trump voters, so I also don't want to present a profile that is essentially another "Trump voters are stupid" piece.