Interesting proposition. Let me think about this.

In the debate I watched with Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, I would say I was most impressed with Edwards since he seemed to me, to be the most calm and respectful and I like the policy ideas I was hearing on health care, the environment, climate change. I don’t recall his positions on foreign policy, arcane American drug laws or the war in Iraq, but I believe I would remember if he said anything I strongly disagreed with. That said, I may have missed something and also didn’t get to watch the entire debate.

It is true that I am looking at this from a Canadian perspective. I can’t help but doing so. But my concern about US politics stems more from its global implications than merely Canada-US trade. For example:

• I am very concerned about how the Bush Administration has blocked real action on Climate Change, and also concerned that this has allowed our own Conservative-Reform-Alliance-Party government to point to them and come up with excuses for also not taking action. [The Liberals had different lame excuses.]
• I am very concerned about the Bush Administration has moved to cut off funding to aid organizations working in the poorest parts of the world unless they agreed to stop all activities that promoted sex education, family planning, and birth control.
• I am very concerned about the American (and, to be fair, Canadian) fixation on maintaining the status quo on energy and resource use, as if we in the west have a greater right to these resources than other peoples of the world.
• I am very concerned about the American support to organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These organizations could provide such a useful service, and yet they continually use their influence to block poorer nations attempts to develop internal markets in favour of globalization that will in fact hurt those local economies.

I am concerned about Canada-US trade. In particular, I am concerned about every instance where trade rules override a sovereign nations’ ability to protect the environment and health of its citizens; I am concerned that Canada has all its eggs in one basket, so to speak and I’d prefer if we had a more diverse mix of trading relationships; and I am concerned that our drive to free trade and globalization effectively eliminates local production serving local markets and puts us at tremendous risk when supply lines are cut or transportation energy becomes too expensive.

Am I affected by the American systems for social security and health care? No, not directly. But indirectly I am since we have a government right now that is open to a more privatized, American style health care system that would open up to US corporations. [I am not suggesting that our corporations are any different than theirs.]

As to my statement of preferring any democrat over any republican, one only needs to watch the video that I attached in the update for an explanation of this one.

–Glenn