US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE1121

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001121 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECSTATE FOR ECA/PE/V/F/E- EILEEN CONNOLLY/DONNA GRIFFITH; 
INFO EUR/PD-BRIAN GUSS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OEXC, SCUL, NL 
SUBJECT: EVALUATION FOR FY-2004 VOLVIS ELECTION PROGRAM FOR 
YOUNG POLITICAL LEADERS 
 
 
Following is post's evaluation for the voluntary visitor 
program on the elections for the four Young Political Leaders 
from the Netherlands, in EVDB format. 
 
START FIXED-FORMAT TEXT (PLEASE DO NOT EDIT): 
: The following data is in a fixed format which enables 
: automated processing in Washington and should not be 
: edited except by means of the Post-EVDB software. 
EXPORT-SOURCE: POST-EVDB 
VERSION: 3.0.7 
POST-EMAIL: dankelmanE@state.gov 
TRANSMITTING-POST: PAS The Hague 
TRANSMITTING-POST-ID: 4276 
EXPORT-TYPE: PROJECT EVALUATION 
START PROJECT-EVAL-REC: 
POST-PROJ-ID: 143 
ECA-PROJ-NO: 
PROJ-NAME: Election Program for Young Political Leaders 
CPTHEME: Mutual Understanding 
START MEMO IMPACT: 
The group said that the program gave them a more nuanced and 
positive perception of the U.S.  They were surprised to 
discover that Americans are not consumed by the role of the 
U.S. in international affairs as are Europeans.  They learned 
much about the U.S. electoral system at all levels, but were 
also surprised that the primaries involved only a very small 
percentage of the population.  The fact that campaigning in 
the U.S. is more focused on persons than on issues was noted, 
but at the same time they realized that the focus in the 
Netherlands is changing as well to personality-driven 
politics. All of them said that they feel they have a better 
understanding of U.S. democracy, although one of them was 
shocked by poverty.  "They want it for the whole world," she 
said, "but look at the reality - the poverty." The Young 
Democrat representative felt that the U.S. is more 
conservative in its values than Europeans, but he also had a 
better understanding of these values. 
Besides their professional program, the group spent most 
evenings with their peers. They all agreed that meeting and 
talking to young people was so important. They were 
fascinated by the ability of campaigns to attracted young 
people as volunteers and the professionalism of grassroots 
campaigning. 
This program advanced the MPP goal of encouraging greater 
understanding of the U.S. by young Dutch leaders. 
 
 
 
 
END MEMO IMPACT: 
START MEMO AUDIENCE-REACHED: 
Two of the four participants kept "blogs" during the visit. 
The Young Socialist's blog alone had more than 4,500 
visitors.  All four reported back on the trip to their 
respective parties and plan to draw on it in discussions 
about the U.S. and campaign techniques. All four have invited 
Ambassador Sobel to address their annual meetings later this 
year. They also plan to meet on a regular basis despite 
coming from four different parties.  For example, they have 
already decided to host a combined "Election Night" event on 
November 2 and have asked the Ambassador to join them. 
END MEMO AUDIENCE-REACHED: 
ECA-PROGRAM-OFFICE-RATING: 5 
START MEMO ECA-PROG-OFFICE-COMMENT: 
The leaders of the youth wings of the four major political 
parties in the Netherlands were unanimous in their praise for 
the program that Donna Griffith of the Africa/Europe Branch 
in the Office of International Visitors arranged. The program 
introduced them to three levels of policy making, federal, 
state and local. They felt that they had been able to explain 
to their interlocutors the Dutch situation, and found people 
willing to listen and to answer their questions.   For future 
programs with similar groups, they recommend another meeting 
or two focused on foreign policy. 
They managed to arrange a tour of Capitol Hill through 
someone they met, adding that it was definitely worth 
including this in any future program. They also recommended 
including a think tank in the program. By chance they met 
someone from the Cato Institute, and had a very good 
discussion with him. 
They mentioned that the meeting with the Young Republicans in 
Austin did not work out, but they all agreed that the overall 
program was very well balanced. 
 
 
 
END MEMO ECA-PROG-OFFICE-COMMENT: 
PROGRAM-AGENCY-RATING: 0 
START MEMO PROG-AGENCY-COMMENT: 
 
END MEMO PROG-AGENCY-COMMENT: 
START ESCORT-INTERPRETER-EVALUATION: 
ESCORT-INTERPRETER: Alpha Berry 
RATING: 5 
START MEMO COMMENT: 
All four of them said that they were very happy with their 
ELO. He was always there, but never pushed himself forward. 
At first he only joined them for their professional program, 
but they soon got along very well, and he went along in the 
evenings as well. They said they had nice discussions with 
him, but he never pushed an opinion. 
 
 
END MEMO COMMENT: 
END ESCORT-INTERPRETER-EVALUATION: 
END PROJECT-EVAL-REC: 
Sobel