Elections

It is somewhat ironic that both the US and Canada have elections which are occurring at the exact same time. Gives us an opportunity to compare the two systems.
I was appalled earlier this week though. Here in Canada we had the English and French language debates between the 4 major contenders, on successive nights. The day after the English-language debate I expected to see some news blurbs on Yahoo-Canada's headlines which is my home page. I subscribe to all the biggies including Associated Press Canada as well as Canadian Political news, also from Associated Press. Not a single mention of the Canadian debates. Were there any reporters from Associated Press in attendance? Hmm, actually, the biggest story of the moment was that Kerry had raised $100M over the past 3 months. This was under the title of Canadian Political News.....go figure....

The length and expense of the American political system astounds me. I recognize that this is private money and that Federal funds, as they are in Canada, are capped; but when I see statements that Bush has $218M in the bank (not including what he has spent to date) I just begin to wonder if this has all gone a little too far.

I think the US should turf the electoral college though. It seems silly that a presidential candidate can win the majority of the popular vote, nation-wide, but lose the Presidency. Although it could possibly occur in Canada, it is much less likely because of how our system is structured.
It is the winner-take-all approach which is at fault. If the state has 10 electoral votes, and the candidate receives 60% of the popular vote, then they should get 6 votes, not 10.

Just my two-cents worth (about 5-cents Canadian).....