The evening began unassumingly, with a cover of the late Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” For the majority of those in attendance, the chorus would prove prescient.

I don’t care who’s right or wrong

I don’t try to understand 

Let the devil take tomorrow

‘Cause tonight I need a friend

On Tuesday evening, several dozen American expats and students piled into the cavernous 1175 Bar & Lounge on the outskirts of Recoleta to listen to Illinois-native Cliff Williamson play country renditions of classics by Willie Nelson, James Taylor, and Kenny Loggins — and to watch the early returns of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. By 11 p.m. Argentina time, the overwhelmingly Democratic crowd had been reduced to a low din, with most patrons either gaping at one of the bar’s multiple television screens or anxiously thumbing at their phones.

Before Florida was called for former President Donald Trump, Marcia Williamson, a real estate agent who has been living in Buenos Aires for more than two decades with her husband, looked and sounded hopeful. Clad in blue jeans, a white cowboy hat, and a red button-down shirt that matched the color of her lipstick, she offered an enthusiastic defense of Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy.

“I’m a woman above everything else,” Williamson told the Herald. “I feel like the economy has grown since COVID and since Trump left office.”

“I love the direction this administration is taking the country,” she continued. “I love its international policies, its relationship with NATO, etc.” 

She trailed off.

Sarah Motley, a 21-year-old student from Denison University who voted absentee in Ohio’s Butler County, acknowledged she was less optimistic. 

“I wanted to be around my fellow countrymen on the night of the election,” she said with a wan smile. “I’m hoping for Kamala, but I honestly think Trump is going to win.”

Trump would ultimately carry Ohio just as he did in the last two elections. With 99% of votes counted, he is currently leading Butler County by 27 points — a 3% improvement on his 2020 margin.

Billy Luck, 47, a contractor with the US State Department who moved to Buenos Aires from Granbury, Texas, two years ago, had watched several NFL and college football games at 1175 before Tuesday’s vote. On this night, however, he was hoping to see Kamala Harris win the so-called “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. 

“That would get her to 270 votes in the electoral college, and that’s all she needs,” he reasoned. “It all comes down to Pennsylvania for me personally. If she loses that, there are other pathways through North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona. But those might not be called for a week, so I’m hoping she makes a clean sweep of the upper midwest. That way, I can rest easy. If not, I’ll be here tomorrow.”

It wouldn’t be necessary. As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump had tallied 295 electoral college votes, or 25 more than is required to secure the presidential election. He has won each of the “blue wall” states and is projected to become the first Republican to win the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004. 

Democrats living and studying abroad, meanwhile, are finding new meaning in one of the Johnny Cash songs that Williamson selected.

I fell into a burning ring of fire

I went down, down, down

And the flames went higher

And it burns, burns, burns

The ring of fire

The ring of fire