It is 1 a.m. Wednesday morning here in Ireland. I have a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, Barry’s Irish Breakfast Tea in my mug. My television is blaring CNN. I compulsively scan the Facebook feed on my cell phone. And I sit here, wrapped in a throw on a blustery early morning, totally awake and writing to you – who are all likely living in a much more civilized time zone. It is US election time in Ireland.

It has been a somewhat surreal election season for me here on the other side of the pond.  I have been spared the worst of the excesses, nasty and not — the endless television ads, the mailers, the news clips ad nauseum and ad hominem, the cluttered inboxes, the begging for money. I find I miss exactly none of that. No one is telling me what to think, how to act, where I belong and don’t belong, who my tribe is. I do have a tribe, and from time to time I do miss that thrill of the united throng. But on the whole I am glad to have been spared the season. The remove has given me something I didn’t even know I lacked – perspective. People are going about their lives here, mildly to moderately interested in the American presidential election, not at all interested in the makeup of the Senate and House, at least as far as I can see. With sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends living in the US, it makes sense that many Irish people have a passing interest in our politics. And no doubt because of this, the Irish television station RTE is providing live coverage of the results tonight. But my guess is that most people are in their beds sound asleep right now, as any normal person should be.

In short, America is not the center of the universe here. Perspective!

This is not to say that folks here don’t have opinions. As I am learning, the Irish are not shy about sharing their thoughts. As I am also learning, they have a fine-honed sense of their own internal politics, perhaps not surprising in a relatively new country where freedom has been hard fought. So this is a not atypical casual conversation, held after hearing my American accent:

              “How long are you here for?” (This sometimes said with a tinge of distrust because what the feck is an American doing here during COVID?)

              “I live here, right down the road as a matter of fact.” (This important to say right up front so they know who they’re dealing with!)

              “Do you now?” always with a smile, and after establishing my bona fides, then, inevitably, spontaneously…“So, what’s up with yer man?”

(It’s understood, correctly, that I know exactly to whom he or she is referring.)

              “He’s something, isn’t he?” Or sometimes, depending, “I’m afraid he’s not my man.”

              “How can he get away with doing (or saying) those things? What was he thinking when he said…” and they are off on a riff.

Variations on this theme have happened often enough that it’s fair to say many people at least in my little neck of the woods do not hold Donald Trump in high regard. I suspect this is because many likely do not understand his type. The unabashed, superwealthy capitalist is a peculiar American phenomenon and many here are just a few generations removed from the ould sod. However, I did have one conversation with an ardent supporter of the president. He built a towering stone livestock wall next to his driveway that he proudly, and with more than a smidgeon of craic (fun), calls “the Trump wall.” It transpires that he is a devotee of small or, really, nonexistent government, starting with the local county council on up. When I pointed out that the national debt has increased under this president, he demurred. Here’s the deal, though. We had a lively repartee tinged with humor, and I know at least for my part I left the conversation feeling I had engaged in a real exchange of ideas. Remember back in 2016 when we were all urged to listen to the other side, and to respectfully share our own thoughts? Sadly, the camps are set along fault-lines in the states these days. I am not entirely sure I could have replicated that conversation there. Perspective.

I have been most interested in learning how leaders in Ireland and, more broadly, Europe are viewing the election. Ireland is bracing for a hard Brexit at the end of the year, and the recently passed government budget not only reflected increased borrowing for COVID-related expenses but for this contingency as well. The UK government is pushing through changes to its Brexit agreement with the European Union that the government itself said violates international law. The changes would affect Northern Ireland, which in turn is expected affect the Republic of Ireland in ways big and small. This has been a big deal over here. Biden said he will not trade with an independent UK that breaks the rules. Trump is eager to establish trading ties regardless. While this may seem somewhat small potatoes to US ears, the Irish media has been reporting developments regularly. On another note, in the all-politics-are-local view, Biden gets kudos for having Irish roots through his mother’s clan and a deep affection for the country; Trump gets love from the folks in the vicinity of Doonbeg, not far from here in County Clare, where his golf resort is a major employer. This is an often-neglected country with a long memory that still recalls John F. Kennedy with affection and honors Bill Clinton for his part in brokering the Good Friday Agreement.

European leaders, it appears, view the election through somewhat jaundiced eyes. I’m certain they haven’t forgotten that Trump called the European Union a “foe” in July, 2018. And so Europe has been learning these last years to go it alone with a US that is no longer the strong ally it once was. Some leaders are saying that won’t substantially shift back again no matter who is president. “In an increasingly brutal world,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French ambassadors to European countries recently, “Europe must finally fully emerge from its time of innocence and naivete to forge its own destiny. Otherwise, others will decide its fate.”

The European Council on Foreign Affairs took a continent-wide survey recently on the US election, which concluded that even if Biden were elected, voters in France and Germany believe Europe should “maintain good relations with the US, but prepare for disengagement,” according to a CNN report. If Trump wins, voters in Belgium, Sweden, Austria and Croatia also want Europe to prepare to unmoor its ties with the US. We Americans tend to be pretty insular thinkers. If it doesn’t affect us directly, we tend to pay less attention. Certainly that’s been true of me, much to my chagrin. But we are part of a world mosaic, like it or not. I get the sense that America is shifting from ‘the’ superpower to ‘a’ power, with consequences that will be playing out on the world stage for decades to come.

One final note. I can not tell you how stressed I was come fall about ensuring that my vote was counted – up and down the ticket from the Presidential race to the selectmen’s contest in my hometown. This was a new experience for me, a US citizen voting overseas. I little thought my small state of Maine was going to fall prey to some of the early voting shenanigans taking place elsewhere in the country; I was more concerned, frankly, that I would somehow misread instructions or otherwise sabotage my ballot. Not a bit of it. The process could not have been more clearcut and simple; and when I did have questions, I actually heard back not from a faceless person but from the Secretary of State elections coordinator in charge of overseas balloting. As a reporter, I enjoyed dealing with state officials, finding them uniformly prompt and responsive. She continued in that great tradition. Just as responsive was my town clerk, who sent me a local ballot here in Ireland that I was able to return in plenty of time. All in all, I consider my vote counted.

So here I sit at 3am. My bowl of popcorn is gone, my tea is cold, my eyes are drooping and the West Coast results don’t come in for another hour. Egads! I have tried to hold my political cards at least somewhat close to my chest in this blog, and I therefore won’t end on a soapbox. I do find this presidential election enormously consequential, and of course, I want my particular brand of old white man to win. But I have to tell you, I find great heart that so many Americans have taken the opportunity to vote in this election. It is anticipated that upward of 150 million Americans will cast a ballot — higher than in any other presidential election. People want to be heard, and that’s hugely important.

OK. I need some sleep. I have to go traipsing through the North Clare countryside this afternoon in search of a sacred well. Perspective!