McCain and Obama Yuk it up

It's surprising to see these two so lighthearted in the midst of a presidential election!





I think Mccain's is a little funnier, maybe it's because I didn't expect this out of him.

Election Time

Tomorrow is Canada's Federal Election. For me, the more local the election, the less interested I become. You may think that Canada's National Election is as big as they come, but I am 100x more interested in the American election.

I've been closely following the American election, watching debates, reading on the latest news and of course watching Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey is spectacularly hilarious as Sarah Palin. I just started Audacity of Hope, and really like what I'm seeing so far. When I was in California, I saw a really nice Obama T-shirt, but it was really expensive and poor quality so I passed. When I went to NYC, I looked for one as well, but couldn't find a good one. Maybe I'll eventually find one.

But what to make of the Canadian election? I have a hard time voting for Dion, and maybe the Conservative ads are getting to me, but I couldn't imagine him representing our country. Harper is pretty conservative for a "stereotypical" Canadian, but he has lowered taxes and instituted a tax-free savings account. Harper also went to the high school one block from where I live, but I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. I don't think a vote to any other party would be worthwhile. So I suppose I wouldn't mind a minority conservative government, which is difficult to know what to vote for to achieve.

If Harper wins a majority, I think Canada would become much more right wing. I get the impression that the Americans think we are all liberals in Canada. So as a result, you get funny spoofs such as the following:



But no matter what your opinion, remember to vote tomorrow!

Barack Obama's Speech on Race

Recently there has been a lot of controversy about comments Obama's pastor have made. I don't think it's such a big deal, but the media is making it to be. He responded with a speech about race relations that may decide the outcome of the presidential primaries. I think there is so much potential in Obama as president, as a leader who is able to cause change for the better. Listen:









Here is the full transcript if you prefer reading instead of listening.

Snow Day

Everyone at my work left at noon today on account of the bad weather. It's nice to get an unexpected break once a while. The drive back to Toronto was tough though. I haven't seen so many trucks in the fast lane in my life. It only took 1.5 hours, so it wasn't horrible.

The extra time off allowed me to catch up on the US election process. I don't follow it daily, but I follow it more than Canadian politics. Recently Guiliani stepped out of the race, which was a little surprising to me. I thought he would be a strong contender. Right now it looks like McCain will will win the Republican leadership and Obama with a slight lead over Hilary. Personally, if I could vote, I think I would vote for Obama. To look at it simply, I think he would make a good leader. Even though I don't think the Republicans have a chance, I think John "Hero" McCain would make a decent leader too. He supports more troops in Iraq, which I think is needed until things settle down. It's easy for me to say, since I'm not American. If Clinton wins it'll be interesting to see what kind of role Bill would take in the White House.

From a gaming point of view (yes, I realize there are more important issues), this article outlines the candidates views on gaming. Obama and McCain come out on top...coincidence? Obama also happens to support net neutrality and "openness". This really catches my attention, but whether he can actually pull it off is another matter.

I think it would be even more interesting to see a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton democratic ticket. That could really be groundbreaking!