How much do the election results matter to a Non-American

Published on October 21, 2004 By Brock Beesley In Politics

Well, I'm a Canadian citizen that is priviledged to be able to live in the US. I currently live in Orlando, where I am an Assistant Pastor at a church here in town. As of yet, I'm not an American citizen but plan on becoming one. I was intrigued by the response of the WC poll of who we were voting for. I wasn't necessarily shocked by the "American" response being virtually a tie between Bush and Kerry. However, I was quite alarmed by the "Non-American" response being so pro-Kerry. I don't have any personal problems with Kerry. I don't necessarily agree with him or his plans and ideas. But I don't mind him as a person. In fact, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I would just think that the majority of the world is glad that we've had a Pres. that has had the guts to be a strong leader in the White House. He's made mistakes . . . oh, definitely. But he's stuck to his guns and I think the world is safer now because of it . . . IMHO. I truly believe that the world will be affected BIG TIME if Kerry wins this election. I really don't believe he will carry the international strength or resolve that Bush has had. And I think the world won't end up in as strong of position. I don't think this election is as simple as making a decision over which President can speak well and which one stumbles over his words so much that it's actually humorous sometimes. I think it goes beyond that. I can't vote so my hands are tied but myself, the rest of the "Non-Americans", and the world will definitely see the results of this election.

Comments

sunwukong

on Oct 21, 2004

As a fellow Canuck but happily still here in the Great White North, here's what I'm hearing/seeing from the folks up here:

- the current US government (administration plus the two houses) has *not* made the world a safer place overall by either his actions or policies, e.g.,
- not enough follow-through in Afghanistan vs Al Qaeda and the warlords
- a war in Iraq based on false pretenses
- an unbalanced approach (when any attention is paid) to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- generally laughable on North Korea and Iran
- propping up the Pakistani regime
- undermining of the UN and all of its agencies

- the current US government has made it *harder* to be a good neighbour
- punitivie trade measures, e.g., closed border to Canadian beef against all reason and science
- stubborn stances on discredited trade practices, e.g., softwood lumber tariffs
- hypocritical cross border trade policies, e.g., declaring Canadian drugs a safety risk while pleading for flu vaccine
- lightly veiled threats of border closures, slowdowns, etc., unless Canada harmonizes more of its security practices
- arrogant pressuring of the Canadian government to adopt the discredited (and grossly expensive) missile defense system
- deportation of Canadian citizens to hostile states, e.g., Arar

- the current US government has improved Canada by
- forcing a review of its military
- forcing a review of its security practices
- opening the debate on its foreign policies w/rt security
- opening the debate on its fiscal policies w/rt US dependence
- opening the debate on comparative intellectual property policies

In general, Canadians have a *lot* to grumble about the current US government. But I think people are mistaken by saying that GW's unpopularity means that we consider Kerry with less suspicion. We see Kerry as president to be:

- less unilateralist w/rt to the UN
- less hawkish (or reactionary) w/rt to global security
- as difficult or more as a trade partner

In summary: we definitely don't like GW's government but are holding back on anticipating a Kerry one.

Brock Beesley

on Oct 21, 2004

Interesting view . . . surprisingly similar to many Americans . . . not happy with Bush but not at all thinking that Kerry would be any better.
Hmmm . . .

latour999

on Oct 22, 2004

You're a Canadian who supports Bush? I think we only have about 4 of those left up here (3 of them in Alberta)

Brock Beesley

on Oct 22, 2004

ahhh . . . head to Toronto. You'll find lots of Bush supporters there. BTW, I used to live in Alberta (only for 2 years while my dad was at a church out there . . . then we moved back to London, ONT.).

latour999

on Oct 23, 2004

I guess I'm just cold and isolated here in Winnipeg, because we are somehow in between Stephen Harper's "The West" and Paul Martin's Ontario and Quebec, So we end up voting for the NDP (19 seats! Woohoo! Now if only we can restore ourselves to our former glory of 43 back in the days of Ed we might actually matter or something). But hypothetically, if Canadians got to vote in the election, Bush would be screwed. I think that out of everyone I know, maybe one person supports Bush.

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