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Who's better for Canada? Obama or McCain?

by Barry Artiste | June 22, 2008 at 01:38 pm

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Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

Certainly a great divide, when those under 30 years old may take to Obama, where those of us 40-70 years old may take to McCain. Guess it all depends who has the larger age demographic in Canada.

Who's better for Canada? Obama or McCain?
Globe and Mail Update

June 21, 2008 at 12:00 AM EDT

"Canadians overwhelmingly prefer Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, to John McCain, the Republicans' choice, as the next president of the United States," John Ibbitson noted Saturday in his Globe essay The U.S. candidates in Canadian eyes

"If Canadians were allowed to vote in the U.S. presidential election, according to a Harris-Decima poll, 55 per cent would mark their ballot for Mr. Obama, while only 15 per cent would support Mr. McCain.

"On the face of it, this makes no sense. Self-interested Canadians should probably be backing Mr. McCain. He defends and supports free trade while Barack Obama is protectionist. Mr. McCain came to Canada in the middle of an election campaign to make exactly that point to American voters.

"That Canadians themselves have no time for his message, that they support a Democratic candidate who vows to rip up NAFTA if it can't be renegotiated, might be a sign of Canadian foolhardiness. It might also, however, reveal a deeper wisdom.