As I write this a few days before publication I don't know who the next President of the United States will be. It's guaranteed Election Night will be exciting, just like the final rose ceremony on The Bachelor or when they announce who is the sole survivor on Survivor. American politics is the best reality show on earth, except this show has very real consequences.
Election fatigue set in a long time ago and while I tried to look away I couldn't, there was too much at stake. I've seen friendships dissolve because Bernie Sanders supporters can't give up the dream of the Burn, friends who've turned on one another over support for Trump and shouting matches over Clinton scandals. It's been ugly and I've had enough.
I'm not alone, just ask the cashier at the International Marketplace in Point Roberts. Arms crossed in frustration she shouted at me, "I am so sick of this election, I can't stand looking at either of them. I just want it over. I am done."
This has been the nastiest and most bitter U.S. election campaign in history.
Just as one election ends in the south, another begins in the north. This time we have a vote. B.C. goes to the polls May 9th to elect our MLA for Delta South. With the campaign kicking off this week we have six months of election anxiety to look forward too. The current candidates are incumbent Independent Vicki Huntington and Liberal candidate Ian Paton. They are about to try and win your vote. Both are household names, well loved and respected by most of us in South Delta. They know each other, have most likely campaigned for the same issues and share a common passion for our community. This is going to be a tight race and interesting. I suspect Premier Christy Clark's popularity will play a big part in the final outcome. With the unpleasant mudslinging of the U.S. presidential election fresh in our memory my hope is this kind of campaigning doesn't spread onto the platforms of our local candidates. Everyone promises to keep it clean until it becomes personal, but isn't everything personal?
Two popular local candidates, in a tight race, where every vote counts, could instigate some nasty campaigning. Politics is for the thick skinned. It's a ruthless, high stakes game. Hold onto your hat neighbours, we could be in for bumpy ride.
Democracy is a privilege, not always a right, and we must honour and protect it. One of its pillars is everyone has the right to run for public office whether they are qualified or not.
Donald Trump said, "One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don't go into government."
I think we will prove him wrong in South Delta.
Ingrid Abbott holds a BA from UBC in Political Science and is an unreliable predictor of election outcomes after she bet Walter Mondale would beat Ronald Reagan in the 1984 U.S. Presidential race.
