My mother and daughter drove into town yesterday to spend time with me and the boys. I have not been up to much company as I am dealing with an impacted wisdom tooth which makes any conversation beyond 20 minutes extremely painful but perhaps the conversation was ultimately far more painful for my mother and her blind support of US presidential candidate Barack Obama.
There are many reasons one could potentially support an Obama presidency but what I find interesting is how so few Canadians, who venture to hold strong opinions on the US presidency, can actually make their case. My mother’s case strikes me as typical. She claims to follow the issues with great interest and carefully watched all the televised debates. Yet when asked to move beyond platitudes and point to actual policy - be it economic, national security, immigration or foreign affairs to name a few areas, she cannot name one single Obama policy or the reasons why she supports this position.
Nonetheless it plays for an interesting family dynamic in a family unit of pre-dominately Libertarian conservatives. As I said to her, I am not surprised by her support for an Obama presidency as she was a long-time Trudeau supporter. For a boomer-Canadian, to be swept up in Obama-mania, is just the logical redux of reliving the Trudeau-mania of one’s misspent youth.
Since I will probably be disinherited with this post, it is now time for me to go earn my daily bread.
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