Kerry chosen by La California... the one in Italy...

There is a link in Italian here .

Short english version: in La California, a small town in Tuscany not far from Livorno, an ironic votation for the White House was held. Over a thousand people voted, and according to exit polls John Kerry got about 70% of the votes. Only they spelled the name “Cherry”.

Current President G. Bush got only 20% of the votes, getting third place. Only they spelled the name “Busce”.

Oh, you want to know who was the second? No, not Ralph Nader; it was Stefano Marmugi, one of the city councillors.

This mock-election was part of a kermesse called “Are we all Americans?” organized by the Project University of Reggio Emilia, in collaboration with the Province of Livorno, the local City Council and a couple of other entities. It was intended as a humorous provocation: the organizers said, “Since the President of the USA gets to decide for all the world, we all want to decide who the President of the USA is”.

Well, if English-speakers can call Livorno “Leghorn,” I suppose it’s OK for the Livornese to spell “Kerry” as “Cherry” (at least it’s pronounced the same). :smiley: