Can't help getting caught up in dazzling U.S. election

Agar Adamson

There are many negative things that could be said about American democracy and American politics. One thing that can’t be said is their politics are dull. If only the same could be said for Canada!

Look at the results of last Saturday’s and last Tuesday’s delegate selection contests. Not only were the outcomes fascinating, but more importantly, look at the voter turnout, particularly amongst the youth and Afro-Americans. Recently, the participation rate amongst these groups was well below the national average, and the national average was depressingly low.

Yes, there are problems with American democracy. The amount of money spent in these contests is obscene. Senator Obama is said to have raised over 30 million dollars in January. Mitt Romney has spent millions of his own money in what looks like a losing campaign.

The race for the American presidency is limited to millionaires and those who have moneyed friends. Wait till next February and see how many of the victorious candidates’ backers receive ambassadorial appointments.

To date, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to limit campaign expenses, saying that a cap would infringe upon Freedom of Speech, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

There is nothing in American law that compares to the Canada Elections Act. Each state sets its own rules for the election of the president and members of Congress, as well as who may vote.

One of the reasons for Super Tuesday is the fact that California, which had held its primary in early June, believed that by June the contest was settled and California, the most populous state, had no impact upon the selection of the presidential candidates.

What to do? Move your Primary to the first Tuesday in February, which started an avalanche of states moving their primaries to February.

Not all primaries are the same. In the New York Republican primary, for example, the winner receives all of that state’s 87 votes, while the Democrats’ 210 delegates are proportional to the candidates’ percentage of the popular vote. In Delaware, both party’s primaries are closed. That is, only those who are registered Republicans or Democrats may vote in their respective primaries. But in New Hampshire, independents may vote in either primary and Democrats, for example, may vote in the Republican primary. It was these rather relaxed rules that permitted John McCain to win in New Hampshire and, in doing so, resurrect his moribund campaign.

There is a positive side to the primaries, though; a side that outweighs the negative aspects of the process. We are currently witnessing not only a renaissance in U.S. politics, after the negative paranoia of the Bush-Cheney years, but a reawakening of the American spirit. It may not be all blue skies; there is, after-all, Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, and poverty.

Furthermore, it was only John Edwards, who has had to withdraw, who was introducing policy initiatives into the campaign. The remaining candidates have charisma that is giving them the momentum they require to continue to run in this marathon. The Democrats also have the chance of making history, for their candidate will either be the first women or the first Afro-American candidate.

John McCain, a retired Naval captain, who fits the American historical tradition of Washington, Eisenhower and others as a military leader and war hero who spent over five years in the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, appears to be on his way to victory.

The Republican results to date show McCain is weak amongst Conservative Christians who have become an important element in his party. One suspects that in order to keep these ultra-conservatives from staying home he will have to select Mike Huckabee as his running mate. McCain has proven that he can attract centre-of-the-road independents to his campaign, which he will need if he has any chance of winning in November. The question is, would Huckabee chase these voters to the Democrats?

As for the Democrats, is it better to select the devil you know or the ‘new boy’ who has charisma and is refueling American democracy? Still, what do we know about Obama? In a way, Obama calls to mind Jimmy Carter.

Carter, a former governor of Georgia, arrived on the national scene after Watergate and Nixon’s resignation. He was an unknown, but like Obama was seen as a breath of fresh air who was an ‘outsider,’ not an old Washington hand. Carter spoke of change, but in the end could not even get the support of his own party in Congress to support his program.

We do not know who Obama would have in his cabinet, which may be a good thing, but can we be certain? On the other hand, we know too much, perhaps, about the Clinton’s and their supporters.

Either way, it could be a risk.

But McCain is also a risk. He has always been a maverick and not trusted by members of his own party. At 71, will he be a one-term president? That’s not what happened with Reagan. Would he put together a fusion cabinet of Republicans and Democrats?

All of this is important for Canadians because, as we have learned from the Bush-Cheney team, we have to get along with the president of the day, or suffer the economic consequences. We hope the new president will have a more enlightened Homeland Security policy than Bush-Cheney.

Election campaigns are changing. It was Bill Clinton and his team in 1992 who went to where the viewers are. Clinton took his saxophone to Much Music and started to turn up on the late night talk shows rather than the evening news. Both Clinton and Bob Dole used the Internet as campaign vehicles. This year’s campaigns have discovered that blogs and U-Tube are important campaign. We can expect these tactics to cross the border and become players in our next Canadian election campaign.

At the moment, Canadians can only sit and dream as we watch one of the most exciting American campaigns in years and listen to our stale, out-of-date political leaders drone on and on.

We need change and revitalization desperately, but equally important, an Obama, a Hillary and even a McCain to deliver it.