“The EKOS poll found only 3.8 per cent of respondents have a negative view of the Democratic president-elect, compared to 81 per cent who approve of his performance as he prepares to take over the Oval Office. (Another 15 per cent said they didn’t know or had no opinion on the matter.)”
That is a quote from msn.ca in an article discussing the Canadian view of Barack Obama. It’s amazing how one man can inspire so many as it’s something we haven’t seen in the world for a long time. As a Canadian I feel “short changed” when looking at our electoral process. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting older but this was the first american election that I actually took great interest in watching and it started with the democratic race. I’ll admit the factors that got me watching were… “wow, we might have a female president or a black president” but over time the sex and race factors didn’t play as much into my desire to watch and stay on top of it.
I asked my wife this morning (who has NEVER been political or really cared that much about politics) if she’d be watching today and she seemed shocked that I would even ask and responded with a resounding yes.
As a Canadian I have to ask… Where is OUR Barack Obama? Where is our leader that can inspire a nation? ”Yes We Can” is a great catch-phrase and I’m sure we’ll hear it about 50 times today in his speech but catch-phrases aside when was the last time a Canadian leader tried to bring hope and direction to our nation?
Can Mr. Obama (or anyone) live up to the expectations that a nation has for him? I sure hope so because he’ll help raise the bar for the expectations on world leaders everywhere. Hey Harper… take note… succeed or fail THIS is how you inspire a nation.
not sure he’s live up to the hype, but he was inspirational, and still is. However we need some followthrough as well.