Op-Ed: Excited About North America's Election Season

I can admit it: I'm a sucker for American politics. I eat it up. I have been absolutely enthralled by the American presidential election, and am eagerly anticipating Tuesday, November 4.

The speeches at both the Democratic National Convention last week and the Republican National Convention this week have been, for me at least, must see TV. I can't recall a longer election campaign than the one we're seeing down south. It seems like it has been going on forever. Are you suffering from U.S. election coverage fatigue? If you are, or have been, brace yourselves. It seems our lovable neighbours might not be the only ones making their way to the polls this fall. The Toronto Star is reporting that on Sunday Prime Minister Stephen Harper will ask Governor General Michelle Jean to dissolve Canada's 39th Parliament. Mark October 14 on your calendars, folks. It will likely be election day. So, is this Canada's attempt to steal the Americans' thunder? I don't think so. But for political junkies like myself, I can't imagine it gets much bigger and better than this. Tonight on TVO's The Agenda With Steve Paikin, Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson will sit down for an interview. Ibbitson is in the Twin Cities for the RNC, and was in Denver to watch Barack Obama accept his party's nomination. He'll weigh in on the highly controversial selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as vice-president, and give his take on both the Canadian political process and the American political process, as he's covered both countries extensively. Speaking of Sarah Palin, check out The Fifth Column for analysis and reaction to her "amazing speech" - according to Joe Biden - last night. Leave a comment to let Mike know how you think she did. I thought she hit Obama and the Democrats hard, and certainly got the crowd at the RNC excited, something they didn't seem to be through the convention's first two days. But what about you - are you excited about a potential Canadian election? Do Canadian politics excite you as much, or more, than American politics? I leave you with one final link from The National Post. It's a very interesting look at how Canadians will be watching both elections on the tube, and here's a telling excerpt: "After deducting local news watching from the total, and accounting for the coverage of U.S. elections on Canadian TV news, my projections show that Canadians will be watching an approximate average of 90 minutes of TV about U.S. elections per week -- and only 45 minutes about Canadian elections. It is probable that Canadians will see the McCain vs. Obama grudge match on TV twice as often as they will see Messrs. Dion, Harper, etc., and that’s without accounting for appearances by U.S. politicians on comedy and talk shows"