If Obama were running in Canada, i think we’d see him able to take positions much closer to what he really believes in, rather than the ‘American liberal’ rather conservative construct we’ve seen over the past year.

Speaking of spending caps, what about media and pollster spending? Why does someone who makes a website about another issue have to register as a third party participant in the election and have his expenditures subject to review, but not a pollster who arguably has more influence on the outcome? What about the media itself, the grand Consortium, for instance. Shouldn’t we know how much it is spending and on what?

Shouldn’t media have to register its expenditures as third party participants in Canadian elections, especially given that

It’s a bit of a stretch, but part of Dalton McGuinty’s appeal in his first victory had a lot to do with broad themes of hope and breaking free of the negativity and cynical atmosphere that seemed to permeate the province after the Harris years.

Bernard Lord was also able to create something of a hope-based movement in his rise to power as well (granted, it was more technocratic than “I have a dream” quality stuff, but nevertheless he rode the crest public sentiment admirably).

I wonder if we can still have Obama-like figures at the provincial level (and municipal – ask the folks in Mississauga, Ontario, about Hazel McCallion), but that the nature of our fedaration makes it rather unlikely in the federal arena.

Obama can appeal to *Americans* as a meaningful entity. As a people. That’s perhaps a fiction, but it’s one that resonates with many Americans. A similar fiction of *Canadians*, in any meaningful symbolic or pragmatic sense, just wouldn’t work. Too many regional interests, too many seats in the house held by a separatist party, and so on…

Interesting column. I think Canada does suffer from the “tall poppy” syndrome more than the US.

Add in the media imperative to build ‘em up so we can tear ‘em down.

Then, the US political system is sickly cynical but the populace is not. Maybe because they are so woefully ill-informed. But would Canadians stand in line for 8 hours to vote?

Canadians are more politically cynical. Matbe because they are more informed on US politics than most Americans are.

If Obama were running in Canada, Jack Layton and his band of Dippers would be calling him a right-winger, a war-monger, a free trader, a friend of the banks, and all sorts of nonsensical stuff.

Seriously – Barack Obama’s platform to date resembles something on the political spectrum to slightly the left of Brian Mulroney and far to the right of Paul Martin or Jean Chretien.

Under Barack Obama there will be more troops in Afghanistan, there will not be public health care, there will not be any national effort to recognize same sex spouses, let alone marriages. If any Canadian politician ran on such a platform, the NDP would be branding them neo-conservative zealots. Yet in Jack’s fantasy land, he’s lauding Obama as a model for progressives in this country.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m supportive of Barack, I just find the Dippocrisy of Canada’s purported “progressives” staggering.

Yes Dippocrisy.
Coming soon, Dippocrisy Watch.