To all you independents

Recently, I was quite amazed/amused to hear about the Canadian election, which is coming up on Oct. 14.

Do you know when they called the election? It was on Sept. 7. So the length of the campaign will be 37 days. Thirty-seven days. Yes, I know there was speculation for a long time that an election would be called this year, but the wheels were only set in motion on Sept. 7. Thirty-seven days.

By contrast, the current U.S. presidential election unofficially started the day after the 2004 election and actively after the 2006 election. I'm sure most of you are getting quite tired of it.

I have been doing my best to keep my opinions to myself, but I made an exception back on Jan. 4, when Vox's question of the day was "What is your reaction to the Iowa caucus?", which had just been held. [URL="http://drdog.vox.com/library/post/qotd-iowa.html#comments"]I commented here.[/URL] I think Efx2 was taking one of its periodic vacations at the time.

I know many people are still undecided, and many are just plain turned off my the entire drawn-out process. Myself included. But I found an article this week that hit home. It was an open to letter to people who haven't yet decided whom to vote for, whatever the reason, whether they follow politics closely or whether they stay far away from it. You're a diverse group. To quote from the introduction:

[QUOTE]But there are a few qualities that many of you share. You are fed up with the choices offered you and sick of partisan rancor. You are disillusioned both with the Bush administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress. Many of you are conservative on fiscal policy and liberal on social issues, which is a big reason neither party exactly fits you. Mainly, you want someone who will actually deliver -- on the economy, on foreign policy, on domestic programs. And you don't care what his or her political label is

Because you hold the key to the election, both John McCain and Barack Obama have been assiduously courting you. But you're not sold on either candidate. You like the fact that McCain has a reputation as a maverick and an independent thinker, but you're not sure if he doesn't just represent more of the Washington status quo. As for Obama, you don't know much about him and all the mania about him only makes you suspicious.

As the endless campaign moves into the home stretch, the noise from both sides and their supporters grows deafening. You're sick of the hyperbolic, us-against-them commentary that dominates our political discourse. What follows is a list of the main issues facing the country, and an attempt to compare, in as neutral a way as possible, how the two candidates stack up on those issues.[/QUOTE]

It was an interesting read, and I thought maybe you would like to see it, too. If you want to read it for yourself, [URL="http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/09/23/letter_to_independents/print.html"]here is the link[/URL]. The election is less than six weeks away. The first debate is Friday night.