What if Canadians could help choose the next leader of the US?
This news story made me chuckle today.
When we talk about the differences between Canadian and American politics in my classes, student frequently say: “So, the Conservatives are the equivalent of the Republicans and the Liberals are the same as the Democrats, right?” Ummm… no.
In a poll conducted in Canada over the last few days, 1000 Canadians were asked which current candidates they’d favour to be the next president of the US. The results were pretty revealing, I think, of some of the differences between our two countries’ political landscapes.
The survey, provided exclusively to The Canadian Press, says 49 per cent of Canadians expressed a preference for Democrats while only 12 per cent did the same for Republicans.
Even self-described Conservatives — who are supposedly more ideologically in tune with the right-leaning Republicans — favoured the Democrats by a 47-23 margin.
[. . .] Among Republican candidates, Canadian respondents favoured the most socially liberal one.
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani had the support of 6 per cent of respondents, followed by John McCain at 3 per cent, Mike Huckabee at 2 per cent and Mitt Romney at 1 per cent.
In a hypothetical presidential election between Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, respondents favoured Mr. Obama 49 per cent to 11. And if only Conservatives voted, Mr. Obama would still have won by a 50-17 margin.
I’ve got to think that Mike “Congratulations Canada on preserving your national igloo!” Huckabee is happy that he’s facing voters in New Hampshire tomorrow and not New Brunswick. For one thing, I imagine he might be wondering how he’d fit all those reporters on his dogsled. I keep wondering when that clip from Rick Mercer’s show is going to make the news here in the US.