Cross posted at The Net Files:
In case you haven't heard the Redskins have sealed George W Bush's fate. With a 28-14 loss to the Packers on Sunday in their last home game before election day the Washington Redskins indicated that the incumbent would lose the race for the White House. How accurate of an indicator is the Redskins' performance of the incumbent's electoral success? It's perfect so far, dating back to 1936.
FYI: Global/NBC is airing a Saturday Night Live Presidential Debate Bash tonight at 10 eastern time. They're going to be showing various clips of debate parodies and such hilarity. Didn't catch their 2000 election debate coverage? Will Ferrell as George W was hilarious, as were the locked box bits. You need to watch it.
On top of the election being a prominent topic of conversation during my 5 days in Georgia I was also in the presence of some important political types during my trip. On Wednesday Bob Riley, the governor of the great state of Alabama was on my flight to Atlanta. For the record I was a few seats in front of him and on the other side of the aisle. Delta flights to and from Ottawa don't have a first class section- all the cattle get squeezed in together. Google tells me that Governor Riley and his band of merry men (he had 3-4 travelling companions, not all of whom seemed to be staff and none of whom were security) were in the Ottawa area to celebrate Alabama's role and investment in the Ducks Unlimited project at Atocas Bay on the Ottawa River. No, I don't know why Alabama invested $82,200 in that project and nearly $750,000 in wetland conservation in Ontario since 1988. I presume it's so that migratory waterfowl will have a nice resting grounds on their way to getting shot in the governor's part of the world (which I have absolutely no problem with by the way).
Overheard on the plane (the governor didn't participate in the talk):
"Why don't y'all come to my ranch one of these weeks. We can get up good 'n early and go bird huntin'. Then we can go back to my place and have some breakfast, then go back out for some duck huntin'. Y'all can use some of my horses, and I gut a mule to carry our gear. And I gut me some dogs too."
"That sounds mighty fine. You want us to come on a weekday or a Saturday?"
I assume nobody hunts on Sunday morning in the Bible Belt. Later on:
"Hey, I saw an ad fer some pure-bred lab pups for $4500 each. Should I get me one?"
"For that price you ought to get yerself a couple of 'em."
"Ya mean I should be able to get a few fer that price?"
"No man. I mean that's a deal and should buy more than one."
Good, salt of the earth people, even if they don't know when someone's asking 10 times the normal price for a dog.
Speaking of good people, I had the privilege of meeting a Scottish member of the British parliament at the wedding festivities I attended. From what I heard the bride met him and his wife while she was studying abroad in London. Meg and I had a chance to talk to the Stewarts for a while before the rehearsal dinner Friday night and we probably could have talked all night between their stories about an overweight, growling dwarf rabbit, my questions about Scottish heritage (both of my grandfathers have Scottish roots and we may actually be related to the Stewart line) and Mrs. Stewart's questions about Gaelic culture in Canada (she speaks a bit of Gaelic and was happy to hear the language is making a comeback in parts of Nova Scotia). All in all they were fantastic folks and I have no doubt that if they weren't such busy people they'd have no problem with me calling them up if I was ever in London. I felt like inviting them to Ottawa on behalf of the entire country.
Mr. David Stewart, MP, is a member of the Labour Party and represents the riding of Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber.
Good people everywhere I went and I haven't even talked about the Georgia folks yet.
Sometimes random questions pop into my head. Most of the time I look for the answers but this time I have no clue where to start. What am I wondering? Who was the last sitting American president to not go on an official (or even unofficial) visit to Canada? And did Chretien or Martin go on any state visits to the United States (trips other than going to conferences and summits at the UN, etc)? Anyone?
**UPDATE**
A bit of poking around took me to this search results page. When clicked upon each link with _______ travels will take you to a list of all of their official travels while serving as president of the United States. George W Bush has been to Canada twice- for the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001 and for the G-8 summit in Alberta in 2002. Neither was a state visit or a working visit in which the president travelled to meet with his foreign counterpart. I didn't have to go as far back as I thought to find a president who didn't visit Canada at all. Any guesses? A hint- Canada went two straight terms without a visit from an American president, snubbed by a Democrat and a Republican. Now that I've answered one question I want to find a list of Canadian Prime ministers who have gone on official visits to the United states to meet with presidents. That's proving harder to find.
I thought I'd throw out my thoughts on tonight's presidential debate while I take a break from packing.
Here's what's going to happen. Kerry will run circles around Bush from an argumentative standpoint. His answers will be clear, structured and make sense. Bush will hum and haw and play up his 'aww shucks' Texan persona. Bush will be declared the winner by the viewers and media outlets because winning a presidential debate has absolutely nothing to do with what comes out of the candidates mouths. Presidential debates are won entirely on image, not on ideas and since Kerry might have less charisma than even Al gore he's pretty much screwed.
I watched all three 2000 debates and Bush drove me nuts from an actual debating standpoint. He didn't say anything of merit and the few things he did take a stand on happen to be issues he has completely flip-flopped on. Remember in 2000 when he said America's troops shouldn't be used for nation building? I do. I was there in person when it was held at Wake Forest in Wait Chapel on October 11, 2000. By the way, The Presidential Commision on Debates had complete transcripts and video of all three 2000 debates, as well as previous debates. The transcript for the debate at Wake Forest (which focused on foreign policy) can be found here.
To be fair to Bush he did say in that debate that if he were to be elected president he would do his best to remove Saddam Hussein from power so it's not like we should have been surprised when he went into Iraq.
Some telling quotes from that debate:
Overheard in Georgia during a discussion of President Bush's RNC acceptance speech:
"People need to realize that we're in a war and our priorities need to be different. The economy doesn't matter right now. We can't have second-rate ingrate European countries dictating our foreign policy and telling us what we can and can't do."
I'm finding it hard to understand how it can be argued that Americans should vote for Bush because it would be a bad signal to the rest of the world to change presidents during a war in Iraq when the incumbent is the person responsible for going to war (on dubious grounds) in the first place. If they want to argue that Bush is the best person to lead the 'war on terror' that's one thing. I might not agree but it makes sense. Iraq is a whole other ball of wax.
Molly Ivins has a great column on the Canada/US relationship posted at the Star-Telegram (Dallas/Fort Worth). A highlight:
Nice, polite, calm, reserved, chock-full of common sense and living next to us -- what a fate. For them, it's like having the Simpsons for next-door neighbors.A few years ago, during the height of our national meltdown over Monica Lewinsky, a host on the Canadian Broadcasting Co.'s evening news program began an interview by gingerly asking me, "So, having another of your little psychodramas down there, eh?"
This year, the American psychodrama, eh, is the election, and Canadians are taking unusual care, even by their standards, to try to phrase their questions delicately.
"You couldn't possibly …" they begin, only to break off. "Are you not aware of what …" "Surely you realize how …"
If we live next door to the Simpsons does that make Canada the Flanders family or we the never seen or noticed neighbours to the left of the Simpson home on Evergreen Terrace?
After he finished signing copies of his book at a Toronto Indigo last Thursday former president Bill Clinton swung by the CBC studios for an interview with The National's Peter Mansbridge (the video link is on the right under media). I missed the first three quarters of the interview at the time but I've since watched it online and I was immediately struck by the contrast between Clinton and President Bush and even John Kerry. Is it any wonder people are disappointed with the quality of dialogue in politics when the world was treated to eight years of eloquence from Clinton?
Ignoring policy issues and looking at their communication styles alone Clinton runs circles around Bush or any other candidate I've seen that's running for office in November 2004. I have no idea how much coaching Clinton had before the 22 minute interview. I don't know if he had the questions weeks in advance or if he was just told he'd be asked about his book and current events but for the life of me I can't imagine President Bush ever being able to give the same sort of interview. Clinton was at ease and confident during the interview because he has a solid understanding of what's going on in the Middle East. He also has respect for the parties involved in the conflicts. Rather than dismiss Bin Laden as a fanatic who's the devil incarnate he referred to him as an intelligent, well-organized, resourceful man. Does he support Bin Laden or agree with what he stands for? Of course not. But he tries to understand who Bin Laden is and what motivates him.
I don't get that impression from George W. Bush. When I see him on TV I'm reminded of an episode of The West Wing when President Bartlett was advised to not act as smart, in effect to dumb things down so that the common man could relate to him. I'm not a big fan of President Bush but I refuse to believe he's as stupid as his detractors say he is. Someone that inept can't get to where he is in life (even with his family's help) so I have to think he plays up the good ol' boy angle to get the populist southern vote. It works extremely well for him and in many ways it helped him unite America in the days after 9/11. The president may have a lot of strengths but eloquence and giving the impression that he's an intelligent, informed man are not among them. Watching the Clinton interview, compare the two men in your mind and then try to argue otherwise.
Man I miss Clinton.
If you have any interest in politics south of the border and you haven't been watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart you really need to get in the habit of doing so. I know it's on late (11pm on the Comedy Network, 12pm on CTV) but it's worth it. Or you can tape it. Seriously. I've been a Daily Show fan for a long time but Jon is at his best right now. It's ridiculously clear that he's fed up with the spin machines and the posturing of both parties and he has no qualms about saying it to the faces of his political guests.
Don't believe me? Watch the video of his interview with Harry Bonilla from Monday (video link is on the right). It's the harshest I've ever seen Stewart and it was great. Expect more of the same for the next 3 months. Except tonight when he has Natalie Portman on.
There are also clips from the Daily Show coverage of the Democratic Convention in Boston which I haven't watched yet but which I assume will be awesome, because Lewis Black is always awesome.
"The internet is the most efficient technology in the universe to make a jackass out of yourself."
-NDP candidate Malcolm Azania after being accused of being anti-Semitic based on coments he posted on a message board 10 years ago.
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