Scene: Two nights ago, our living room, watching Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on the CBC, Halloween candy wrappers on my coffee table, pug in my lap, jaw dropped, e-mail in my inbox from Chris saying “PRESIDENT PALMER!”.

As a Canadian, I feel very conflicted about American politics and the interest it garners in the Great White North. In a time where voter apathy is at an all-time high in Canada, it kind of kills me to see so many people who were very apathetic just a little less than a month ago about our own election be so excited about the American election. Sure, I won’t deny that Tuesday night was a momentous and inspiring occasion and should have been watched by all, but if you’re going to get so enthralled about politics, why not do it in your own country? You know, where you actually get a chance to have your say and where the decisions made actually directly have an impact on your life. I’m not saying that Barack Obama being elected President will not affect anyone but Americans – I’m sure it will have a positive worldwide effect, but I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that 15% of Canadians would rather vote in the U.S. election than in our own, I mean… really?

I guess what we need in Canada is an agent of change and a charismatic leader who can inspire us all. We need a “celebrity” candidate to flick on disinterested voters’ democracy switch (mine is broken and can’t be turned off – ask Chris!). We need a Trudeau (well I know we actually have one, but he still needs some work) or even, to a certain extent, another Chrétien (he wasn’t much to look at, but you have to admit he really was interesting, well, I guess anyone is interesting compared to the current android residing at 24 Sussex). We need someone to come in and shake things up and make Canadian politics interesting again for everyone. Of course those of us who find Canadian politics super interesting already will probably explode of political nerdery overload if this happens, but it’s a sacrifice I’m wiling to make in the name of Canadian democracy.

Any ideas on who should be the Canadian Obama? All that comes to mind right now for me is Tom Green, which is so, so, very wrong on so many levels.

- You actually live in a country with a stable form of government in which you can have your say. And to the people who feel that democracy isn’t fair in Canada and that none of the parties represent your views, I say spoil your ballot. Sure, Elections Canada will tell you it’s illegal and that they discourage it, but if enough people are dissatisfied and do the same as you, I can tell you it won’t be long before the results of the elections are called into question and the way in which we elect our Members of Parliament is revisited.
- If you’re a woman, you owe your privilege to vote to the suffragettes.
- Voting is sexy.
- By voting you make sure that the government is not elected solely by senior citizens, who always vote in frighteningly high numbers. They even get dressed up to vote (I plan on voting in jogging pants tonight)!
- I will think less of you if you don’t vote (seriously… aren’t you like, totally concerned about what I think of you?). Where are all of your WWVT bracelets (What would Véronique think)?
- The act of voting itself is pretty darn exciting (ok maybe I’m alone on this one). I mean, you get to visit your local church basement/community center and line up with a little piece of paper, maybe finally talk to that neighbour you’ve been stalking for over two years.

- 3 words and an acronym: CBC election night coverage.
- 3 words and an acronym again: Peter Mansbridge in HD.
- If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about the government. Four years (well, it technically should be four years) without complaining about the government in power? That’s a long time… think about it! I won’t even let you complain about how loud John Baird is!
- Get some exercise! For the Debbie Downers who will tell me that traffic accidents are always higher on election days, I say walk to your polling station and get some exercise!

Well as much as I wish I could, I can’t make you go vote today. But please do? Merci!

For starters, some very basic definitions, brought to you by dictionary.com.
liberal: favourable to progress or reform
conservative: disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change

Now to me, a democratic socialist and owner of shirts such as this one, it’s not very hard to pick out which one of these two concepts is “right” and which one is “wrong”. I mean… seriously? Limiting change? Restoring tradition? Who in their right (pun very much intended) mind would ever want to be attributed the label “conservative”? To me the term carries so many negative connotations it’s almost like the equivalent of being called a caveman.

I’ve been called a conservative once in my life and I remember the moment vividly to this day. When I was in first year university, I worked at La Vie en Rose, a lingerie boutique in the Rideau Centre. One weekday afternoon I was working alone with my manager and she asked me to dress up one of our mannequin busts with some new merchandise we had just received. As it was my first time doing this (I didn’t work there for very long), I was really careful in selecting the garments and making sure the size was just right. When I was done my manager came over to check on my work. As we were standing there admiring the lacy bra on the fake plastic bust I immediately blurted out “Oh no, we can see nipples! I’ll get a chiffon robe to cover it up!” (don’t ask – the plastic busts had nipple shapes), to which she replied “God, you’re so conservative, just let it be!”. Now I’m a person who’s pretty hard to insult or offend, but I was immediately so insulted when she called me a conservative. I wished I could have taken back my words so much. To this day I still beat myself up over the fact that my retail job manager five years ago thought I was a prude. Geez.

So the other day Chris and I were in the car and I told him how I couldn’t fathom anyone not being insulted if they were called a conservative. He then pointed out the fact that the opposite is true for people who are actually conservative. I had never really thought of that, because to me, being left-leaning is not a conscious decision, it’s a matter of knowing with every fibre of my being that what I believe in is simply right (well, left). But thinking about it, I guess I can easily imagine Lowell Green turning into The Hulk at even the simple idea of being called a liberal.

Ah well, to each his own.