News

What would Sir John A. Macdonald think?

At Toronto's normally genteel Albany Club, which Canada's first prime minister helped found in 1882, 100 or so business folk planned a TV dinner night, with Oklahoma pulled pork, New York deli sandwiches, California rolls and other chow representing the 24 Super Tuesday states.

In an apartment nearby, Jared Bland had friends over for a gourmet three-course meal and to gaze at the cathode-ray glow of a television tuned to state-by-state results.

On the west coast, University of Victoria students planned to dress as their favourite U.S. presidential candidates and eat organic Huck-a-Burgers as CNN's primary broadcast blared in the background. "There are more people interested in Super Tuesday than the Super Bowl," said the party's host, Mark Stephenson, who was going to dress as Barack Obama.

From coast to coast Tuesday night, Canadians intended to gather in bars, clubs and homes to obsess over the runup to a U.S. election that's still nine months away. With 24 states deciding on their Democratic or Republican candidate for president, Super Tuesday is a milestone in the opening act to the main presidential event. But the fervour with which Canadians have followed the U.S. results is unprecedented - even compared with a Canadian election.

"I think that the interest is envy manifest," said Mr. Bland, a dual citizen. "Even I'm envious, in a way. I wish I could quit everything I'm doing and go work for Obama's campaign right now."

On Monday, an Environics poll co-sponsored by The Globe and Mail found that 15 per cent of Canadians would give up their ballot for the next Canadian federal election to vote in the United States come November.

"We always make fun of the U.S. for having such low voter turnouts," said Dan Arnold, 25, a Liberal blogger who held three Super Tuesday party invitations yesterday afternoon, and wasn't sure which one to attend.

"But now we're much more interested in Super Tuesday than any Liberal or Conservative leadership race I can remember. There's definitely a little bit of envy in that respect."

In any previous election, the historical relevance of Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton, the rejuvenation of John McCain, the flameout of Rudy Giuliani or the emergence of a viable Mormon candidate would alone constitute storylines appealing enough to capture voters' hearts and minds.

But with these election narratives running parallel, the U.S. race has become impossible to ignore, even if you happen to live north of its purview.

"It certainly has something that the Canadian political landscape lacks," said Natalie Maniates, a communications professional who helped organize the balloons, flags and surround sound for the Albany Club's Super Tuesday party. "There's more focus on character and less on policy. That's what makes it so interesting."

That appeal crosses party allegiances. Ms. Maniates has noticed many among the Albany Club's largely conservative membership rooting for Mr. Obama.

"It refreshing to see that people here are not hanging all over the Republican candidates this year," Ms. Maniates said.

But the American media's foibles have done as much to ramp up interest in the election as the star quality, according to primary-obsessed Canadians.

With Mr. Obama taking Iowa so convincingly, many pundits predicted he would steamroll his way to an early nomination.

But Ms. Clinton upset those predictions in New Hampshire, and the two have been trading blows ever since, imparting indecision to Democratic voters that has crept across the border.

In a recent Nanos poll, Canadians said they marginally favoured Ms. Clinton over Mr. Obama by 4 per cent, but with a margin of error of 3.5 per cent.

"There's a genuine horse race out there," said Dennis Pilon, a professor of political science at the University of Victoria.

"Usually, U.S. politics are highly predictable, but the commentators have been wrong at every turn this time."

Our national envy shouldn't turn to despair, says Roger King, an American member of the Democrats Abroad who has lived in Canada since he was nine years old. "Canada had its day with Trudeau and Joe Clark and Lévesque," he said.

"True, the Canadian leaders now are not that captivating, but we know what that's like. We had [George] Bush versus [Michael] Dukakis not that long ago."

*****

Super booze day

This year's crop of presidential contenders has inspired a vast menu of candidate-inspired drinks and dishes. Here are a few that mixologists planned to tipple during Super Tuesday bashes last night.

The Hillartini

1 ounce vodka

1/2 ounce triple sec

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce cranberry juice

Pink yet bold, this cosmopolitan will knock you out after a couple rounds.

John McCain's Straight Talk Espresso Martini

11/2 ounces Van Gogh Espresso Vodka

11/2 ounces Kahlua coffee liqueur

1 ounce white crème de cacaoWhite Creme de Cacao

What better for a man known to drink up to 10 cups of coffee a day?

Obama-Rama

1 ounce Grey Goose orange-flavoured vodka

1 ounce Malibu rum

Cranberry juice

Pineapple juice

A tropical drink perfect for beachside lounging in Mr. Obama's native Hawaii.

The Romney

Pineapple juice

Cranberry juice

Soda

A refreshing booze-free concoction for teetotallers teatotallers such as Mitt Romney.

Hucka B-52

1 ounce vodka

Water

A low-calorie bomb named for Mike Huckabee, the candidate who penned the weight-loss book Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork.

Source: DrinksFoodAndFun.blogspot.com, LotusLoungeDC.com