With just a little over seven weeks still left to go, I’m already sick of the federal election.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty stoked for Election Day – Oct. 19 – when Canadians will go to the polls and cast their votes for a new leader… or the same one. It’s just the constant barrage of political ads and daily blather from the candidates on their campaign tours that is wearing me down. As this is one of the longest election periods in recent Canadian history, we’re being blessed with extra heaping helpings of political rhetoric, posturing and promises. I think because there is also campaigning going on at the same time in the U.S. for their Republican and Democratic party leaders, it’s getting to the point of election overload for me.
Every time I turn on the TV I’m greeted by some suited stiff, smiling unsettlingly and offering up practised dialogue promising economic paradise and family values… or they’re slamming their opponents in a decidedly non-family values way. If it isn’t people talking about something wacky that Donald Trump said, or about his hair, it’s someone discussing Justin Trudeau’s hair. Did hair suddenly become an election issue thing when I wasn’t looking? Does that mean I can never run for political office because I shave my head? “Nice scalp, though” would be my commercial, I guess.
And it isn’t like any of this extended election stuff is going to really make a difference. Most Canadians will still just vote the way they’ve always voted, according to some experts, no matter whose hair we’re talking about. The polls seem to switch who is in the lead every day, but so far, from conversations with friends and relatives, everyone is still going with their long-time party of choice. So, does that mean that political change is only going to come from the fence-sitters out there, and those who don’t usually vote? If so, then let me make a personal plea for you to try and resist the overload. With stock markets bouncing up and down like rubber balls, and the very real threats from extremists and wackjobs with guns, plus unemployment, climate change and wars everywhere, our choice of national leader is going to shape the future prosperity of the country. So, hang in there, make sure you’re registered to vote, and then make sure you’re there Oct. 19… no matter whose hair you vote for.
