Americas and Oceania Collections blog

Exploring the Library’s collections from the Americas and Oceania

11 February 2014

Reflections on the 2012 Elections

US Ambassador

Ambassador Matthew Barzun at the British Library. Image: M Shaw CC BY

The US Ambassador to the UK, Matthew W. Barzun, visited the Library on Monday. As well as visiting our Business and Intellectual Property Centre, he kindly took the time to participate in a roundtable discussion on the 2012 elections, particularly on how the Democrats enthused and got their vote out.  The invitation noted that the 'Chatham House Rule' would be in place, which I think means I can't tell you what was said (or at least who said it; I've already revealed some of the people who were there). Suffice to say, it was interesting, and we had some great questions, particularly from the King's College, London students. I think I can also post a picture, so above is a shot of Prof. Phil Davies from the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library, with the ambassador to his left. Behind is a reproduction of a slide from the campaign, which emphasised that although the Obama campaign made notable use of new media, at its heart it had some simple principles, and that being scrappy can be a strength.

We also made a note to bring white board markers next time.

[M.S.]

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