Barak Obama's Big Night

Last night, I along with millions of others watched the Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado. It was certainly an historic night. 85,000 people crammed the outdoor stadium to attend the event and the overhead TV shots conveyed the epic nature of the crowd. It must have been an overwhelming event to be at.

Here's a commentary for you: today, the Edmonton Journal carried the story on the front page, while choosing to carry a story announcing the almost certain, soon to be called Canadian Federal election, on page 4!!! Definitely an honest reflection on the state of politics here in Canada.

In the United States, history is being made as Barak Obama became the first African American to be nominated as a major party candidate for President. Next week, the Republicans will nominate John McCain as their nominee and the race for the White House will officially begin. Most likely, that same week, a Canadian election will be called and the vote will take place prior to the American vote on November 4. Thus the entire Canadian election will be drowned out by the much larger, much louder and frankly, more interesting election to the south.

I'm a Canadian and proud of it, but I have to admit that I'm far more interested and captivated by the American political scene. Despite the fact that they have the longest democratic election process on the entire planet, I still can't turn off Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and my favorite Jack Cafferty, on CNN!

Clearly I'm not alone, as evidenced by the choice of the Journal in relation to these two political stories.

Although the Canadian election has not been called, I have to wonder, WHY would they call it now? It strikes me that having an election in the middle of one of the most historic elections in American history is just plain stupid.

I also have to wonder, how many people in Canada will even know that an election is happening in our country? And will they care? Or is having an election now a recipe for the worst voter turnout in Canadian history?