Pints, Politics and Protests
Dems Abroad Oxford reflect on the past year's events in US politics
Losing an election is never easy, for any party.
A year ago today, the U.S. went to the polls, and only hours later, the Democratic Party’s resounding election defeat saw Donald Trump elected for a second term.
And if a week is a long time in politics, a year is almost ancient history, given the tumultuous nature of the U.S political cycle.
The loss, particularly difficult after a campaign where their candidate, Kamala Harris had only 107 days to gain traction after President Joe Biden stepped aside in July seems like barely a flicker now when every day something else grabs for our attention.
This past year though, the Party has turned within, examined what went wrong, and what they need to get right until 2028. They know they need to play the long game.
And their fortunes may be turning around. Yesterday, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherill won their respective Gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, and the election of Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim man of Ugandan origin as New York Mayor has stunned the world.
Since January, a broad sweep of key elections has gone to the Democrats, while yesterday’s victories are giving the Party more hope.
These election victories for the Democrats may well indicate that U.S. voters want predictability, calm and control over their lives as they struggle with inflation, food prices that have not yet come down as promised and the looming spectre of the doubling of their health insurance.
Though the Americans are used to it, this almost constant, spinning election cycle is quite dizzying to UK voters. In November of this year, over 53,000 positions were open for voting across the country, including local government, judiciary appointments, state representatives and mayoral elections.
Here in the UK, the dazzling show that U.S. politics has become in recent years has become something of an obsession.
We’re now able to tune in, almost hourly, to gasp at the carnival-like spectacle of the roller coaster news cycle, the Trump administration’s topsy-turvy policy U-turns, the side-show alley behaviour of some of its supporters, the whirling, dizzying merry-go-round of tariffs, its hokey-pokey diplomacy style.
Yet in the midst of the chaos, confusion and zone-flooding, what the Trump administration do slam-dunk is their ability to communicate their message, even as that message is not always the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us all. This is in contrast to the Democrats, who’ve been slower to grasp this, with some individual exceptions.
As one of those UK citizens who’s been watching, astonished, at all of this unfolding, I reached out to Francesca Guitierrez, a long-time Oxford resident, Chair of the Oxford branch of Dems Abroad* and a dual British/U.S. national to help me make sense of all of this.
I wanted to understand what the Democrats have been doing since last November, what they think they got wrong leading up to the election, and what they’re doing differently now that seems to be working for them.
I also wanted to understand why the U.S. system works the way it does, and some of the key differences between our democratic system and theirs.
And, aside from wanting Francesca’s perspective, I was curious about who the Dems Abroad are, and what they do.
Their work, which began in 1964 in Paris after the election of Lyndon B. Johnson, has spread to 52 branches across 190 countries, all actively encouraging U.S. citizens to participate in their nation’s democratic process.
Why did the Dems lose the 2024 election?
Our conversation began by going back a year to the election defeat, where I began by asking Francesca why she thinks the Dems lost.
For her, the answer comes down to misinformation and the Dem’s struggle to address it in the lead up to the election, saying, ‘we need to have a better story when reaching out, especially to the working and the middle class. There are a lot of things that were great benefits to both of those groups of constituents that happened under the Biden administration.’
She added that an understanding of and investment in social media will be a key factor in changing the narrative, ensuring that their message landed with people they haven’t previously reached.
Moving forward, she feels that the Dems need to join the conversation, actively address misinformation and put together a party-specific social media strategy targeting new voters.
What Are the Differences Between UK and US Political Systems?
UK citizens often observe differences between the U.S. and UK political systems, so I asked her to explain.
Her response was that on the surface, while the systems look similar, they are actually very different in some important areas.
In the US, individual candidates and leaders are chosen by voters before raising their own money, hiring their own campaign managers, and taking their own stances on different issues. This means that the party isn’t formal or full-time, unlike in the UK.
Wouldn’t It Be Easier If They Had a Permanent Leader?
This is another familiar question for Francesca, who explained that although they have permanent Party and Committee Chairs, the main differences are that there are no permanent leaders or shadow government, meaning that the party recreates itself in the lead up to every general election, before being mostly dismantled post-election.
And while this has worked in the past, they’ve identified that investing in longer term, consistent Party structure to support candidates could be beneficial.
What Are They Doing Now?
I put to Francesca the perception of some commentators, critics and even Democrat supporters that since the 2024 election, the Party is unseen and unheard and no one knows what they are doing.
She is adamant that they are busily preparing, actively listening to people across a broader base than previously, and holding Town Halls, where, as she says, people who express dissenting views or disagree with what they hear are not facing arrest as has been happening at some Republican events.
Was The 2024 Election Result a Surprise?
I was curious to know whether the election result had been a surprise to her, and in turn, I was surprised by her answer - yes.
She shared how difficult the result had been to accept, that she’d hoped that more voters would remember the first Trump administration’s Covid response, and that it was as though there were two information universes.
Francesca also believes that had people fully understood that they were voting for cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, there may have been a different outcome.
Why Are The Dems Abroad Important?
The Dems Abroad know that many Americans who live overseas do not realise that they have the right to vote in federal elections, and some in state and local elections.
So their role is multi-purpose: finding American citizens and encouraging them to vote. Crucially, however, they do not instruct anyone on how to vote.
But why is this important and why do the Dems Abroad work so hard to make sure that people participate in U.S. elections?
Preventing Voter Suppression
Francesca explained that while it’s always been challenging for people to vote from outside the U.S., that it’s getting more difficult due to changes in policy by the Trump administration in what the Dems Abroad believes is an attempt at voter suppression.
As apart of this strategy, they’ve come up with initiatives including educating U.S. students.
Students
In Oxford, they have a large presence at Freshers Fares every year, complete with everything needed to make voting easy.
To ensure that the students are informed and have access to free, fair information, they refer them to Ballotpedia, an unbiased site aimed at educating American voters.
The Oxford branch also host gatherings aimed at Americans but open to all. One’s called Pints and Politics, where, as the name suggests, people gather in an Oxford pub to discuss U.S. politics each month.
Contribution to Election Result Outcomes
Aside from hanging out together, why is the Dems Abroad’s work important?
In the 2020 election, the votes from outside the U.S., from across the board of U.S. citizens including military and civilian, made a significant difference in the results in two key swing states, Georgia and Arizona.
Protests
During our interview, I observed to Francesca the irony of holding ‘No Kings’ protests in London, asking why they still participated in marching this far from home.
She explained that Dems Abroad believe that while protests are effective in the States, here, protests are aimed at raising awareness, and that they work with other groups within the UK who are also protesting.
Meanwhile, away from the protests, Dems Abroad are quietly working on gathering together their ideas, thoughts and their strategies to support their not only thier Party’s battle for survival, but for what they see as a battle for democracy.
Dems Abroad Statement Regarding US Election Results from November 4, 2025
‘Zohran Mamdani ran on message of affordability and inclusivity and protecting New Yorkers from the Trump regime. His message clearly resonated. We’re excited to have this young, clear-thinking leader as the first Muslim mayor of New York City. His election, in conjunction with the Blue Wave that propelled Democratic candidates to win in VA, NJ and elsewhere across the country, show people are fed up with Trump and want to fight what he’s doing. Yesterday’s results are the highlight of a string of victories since January where Democratic candidates have won in 44 out of 45 key state and local elections all across the US.’
*Note - there are no equivalent GOP organisations in Oxford.