issues & ideas wrormomecanace THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012 7 Sexy politics attract the world A look at why #Election2012 was so popular, and if a similar event 1s possible in Canada Canada lacks a political superstar A socialist and a conserva- tive walk into a bar... and discuss the bizarre popu- larity of American politics By ANNIE ELLISON le Community Pub in Gastown was packed with rowdy student patrons glued to a dozen TV monitors — and it had nothing to do with ice or pucks. At the U.S. election night social host- ed by The Universities’ Model Parlia- ment Society of British Columbia, stu- dents of all political creeds Gincluding those who don’t vote in Canada) caught the buzz and tuned in to American election coverage. “It’s the most powerful country in the world,” said Langara International Socialists organizer Bradley Hughes. “Of course people are going to watch.” Hughes says perhaps more Canadi- ans would be politically engaged if we, like the Americans, elected our own head of state instead of paying taxes to a monarch. “Making Canadian politics sexier wouldn’t hurt, but it’s about making it easier for people to understand the is- sues and get involved,” said Hughes. In practice, Obama and Romney have the same policies although they are made out to be polar opposites, said Hughes. “The Occupy movement is providing a lot of the relief for Hur- ricane Sandy. That would have hap- pened no matter who won.” Meanwhile, the differences between the parties in Canada are subtler and leaders tiptoe around the real issues, according to Hughes. “INDP leader] Thomas Mulcair says in the west, pipelines are bad, but in the east they’re OK. That’s not clear,” said Hughes. Jeffrey Griese, a national constitu- tion committee member for the Con- servative Party of Canada says our gaze drifts south because Canadian politics cannot compete with the star power involved in the U.S. presidential race. “Obama is a whole new level of spec- tacle,” said Griese. In contrast, the Westminster voting system [used in Canadian elections] is much slower, more confusing and less exciting, he said. “Left-wing parties don’t go by se- niority or paying dues, they go by star power, momentum and passion. It’s served them well,” said Griese, allud- ing to Obama, JFK and the growing electricity of federal Liberal Party leadership candidate Justin Trudeau. According to Griese, if the U.S. econ- omy doesn’t bounce back soon, the im- pending financial crisis will inevitably impact Canada, another reason we should be watching our neighbours closely. Canada will get to see its own politi- cal fireworks in 2015 if people become fed up with the Harper government and Trudeau manages to capture the momentum of his father’s legacy, said Griese. But in a rare case of agreement be- tween socialist and conservative, Hughes and Griese both doubt the Americans will be watching. 0: the night of Nov. 6, the Metropo- MICHELLE GAMAGE photo What would it take for Canadian politicians to generate more interest in their local elections? Locals hot for US pols Election conflict and media hype draws eyes away from Canadian politics and to the south By BRANDON KOSTINUK hen it come to politics, the Americans are simply more interesting. The most recent U.S. elec- tion spurred fervent debate and discus- sion throughout the Lower Mainland and seemed more relevant than the 2011 Canadian federal election. “The American election had a num- ber of issues Canadians could identify with such as health care and the econo- my,” said Stephen Phillips, political sci- ence instructor at Langara College. But Phillips also said that having lik- able figures is just as important to gar- nering attention as the issues. Canadians admired President Obama and his balanced approach to foreign policy, which aligned more with a Cana- dian tact, said Phillips. Medical student Ali Pervaiz said that Canadian politicians, compared to their American counterparts, are less amus- ing. “Harper is damn boring,” said Per- vaiz. “There’s nothing interesting about the man... but Obama is charismatic, he’s smooth.” Pervaiz, however, offered no com- ment on Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who, according to second-year international relations student Chris Bayko, was important to the popularity of this year’s presidential election. It was a good show because the two individuals involved - Obama and Rom- ney — were polarizing figures, said Bayko, and the media intensified this through extensive coverage of their re- spective differences. Furthermore, media predicting a close race well throughout the cam- paign made for an especially competi- tive and thus exciting climax (i.e. elec- tion day), said Bayko. In other words, the pre-election hype so common to the U.S. presidential elec- tion fosters attention from media and the public. But the hype wouldn’t be possible if either figure isn’t perceived to have a legitimate chance to win in the first place, said Bayko. Pervaiz noted American prominence as reason for Canadian attention to U.S. politics. “The United States is a superpower so there’s interest in whatever they do.” Canada, like other countries, said Pervaiz, tuned into the election because the U.S. is a country whose political de- cisions have global ramifications, not excluding the Great White North. 66 Harper is damn boring. There’s nothing interest- ing about the man... but Obama is charis- matic, he’s smooth. ALI PERVAIZ, Langara Medical Student Politicos bash U.S. spending Local elected officials view the billions spent in the American election as wasteful and avoidable By MICHAEL LETENDRE left a funny taste in the mouths of some local politicians. The American election is estimated to have cost over US$6 billion, the most expensive in U.S. history and a much vaster sum than the cost of Canada’s 2011 general election, an estimated $291 million. The amount of media cov- erage of the American election also dwarfed any election ever seen in Can- ada. Vancouver City Councilor and mem- ber of the Green Party of B.C., Adriane Carr, said that campaign ads, estimated by a Barclays report to have cost US$2.6 billion, are a major source of concern in the American election. “The cost of campaigns has gone up so astronomically because political parties are buying huge numbers of highly expensive TV ads. In a way it leads you to conclude that you can ac- tually buy an election,” she said. Carr said she thinks the constant polling, a survey of public opinion, that was seen in the U.S. election is a prob- lem and that her own party has sug- gested there be a ban on polling for the duration of an election. “They can really sway people and in- fluence people so that they think about voting based on what they think other people are going to do at the ballot box, rather than come to their own conclu- sions,” she said Carr said she hopes Canada never aspires for the fever pitch seen in American politics because she doesn’t want voters to become burnt out on the election process. “What I got out of this last election was voter fatigue. The message that seemed to be coming through from citi- zens was ‘enough already’,” she said. “T’d like to see less, not more and the states definitely went the route of more.” NDP representa- tive for the Van- couver-Fraserview Te: latest race for the White house district, Gabriel Yiu said he thinks “Canada should learn through America’s _ short- comings.” Yiu said that money, specifically campaign dona- tions from unions and corporations, is becoming too big of a driving force behind the cam- paigns. “That’s no longer a real democratic, one person one vote system. It’s more about a money-generating, money-in- fluencing system,” he said. Yiu said that the BC NDP recognizes this problem and is advocating for a tougher donation policy. “Our policy would be totally banning labour union and corporate donations.” GABRIEL YIU NDP Vancouver- Fraserview rep.