November 4, 2008 News

A green with voting envy

by Ion Etxebarria

Diane Randolph lawnsits her Barack Obama yardsign in Westmount.
PHOTO Ion Etxebarria

Diane Randolph, an American expatriate living in Canada for the last 26 years, looked out her window on Nov. 2 and found that her pro-Obama sign was missing from the front lawn of her Westmount home.

Randolph, a self-proclaimed “fervent Barack Obama supporter,” is eager to sink into the hot politics of our southern neighbour, especially since she couldn’t vote in last month’s Canadian federal election; “the U.S. government precludes its citizens from voting in any other elections,” Randolph said.

Diane has already cast her vote for Democratic nominee and senator Barack Obama as an overseas absentee with hopes of social policy reform.

“The healthcare situation in the U.S. is an embarrassment and the education system has declined significantly with the ‘No child left behind’ failed policy of George Bush,” Randolph said of the current American president.

Although Randolph had to skip out on the Canadian political mambo, she thinks the significance of participating in the American election means much more to the world.

“I don’t think that in Canada, regardless of the outcome of the election, the change to the country or to the world would have been as dramatic as what the potential exists in the U.S.”

As for the sign, Diana found it a few blocks from her home attached to a car in place of its plate, which she assumes is most probably the work of some Hallowe’en partygoers.

Montreal’s chapter of Democrats Abroad will be gathering at Burgundy Lion Pub (http://burgundylion.com) to follow the U.S. presidential election results. No gathering is organized by its Republican counterpart in Montreal.