Just a few random thoughts.
As someone who sits on the left of the political spectrum, I found the idea of Romney as president worrisome. What he would do internally wouldn't have much effect on me, but his foreign policy and his world view and that of his advisers is another matter.
The dichotomy in American politics seemed even more pronounced this time. Perhaps it's because there appear to be no moderate Republicans, at least to the outsider, just tea party and their ilk. Or if there are moderates their voices were drowned out by the rhetoric. A year or so ago I had a cousin from Michigan ask me if I could do an internet search to find Obama's real birth certificate, because, "You know, right, he was born in Kenya." Now this person is not some backwoods hick. He is well-educated, a business owner who benefited from the auto bailout. And yet he took this seriously, as I am sure many others did and continue to do.
Is the issue of race ever far from the surface? The posts on Facebook about putting the white back in White House were a symptom. Is it a real issue or is Ann Coulter right that racism ended in the mid-60's? Perhaps institutionalized racism did, and that's debatable, but on a day-to-day basis is it still there?
As an outsider I risk being told that I don't understand and that I should tend to my own house. I'll take that chance. I don't pretend that Canada doesn't have its problems, but that's for another post.
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