So, apparently there’s an election or something

Americans are obsessed with politics. More specifically they are obsessed with discussing politics. Scratch that, they are obsessed with arguing politics. Wait, they’re obsessed with loudly disagreeing and having combative conversation about politics. Well, maybe it’s a little of all of that.

I recall last fall how it was a big deal we were heading into a federal election campaign that lasted nearly three months. Didn’t it seem like an eternity though? In the U.S., this has been a year-and-a-half campaign – actually, more like four years since all we heard about during Obama’s last run is “2016, 2016, 2016” for the future presidential hopefuls.

I randomly clicked over to CNN a few times last weekend and every time – I’m not kidding you – it was a story about politics. Specifically, the name “Trump” was on the screen each time. It has practically become a political news channel.

Hillary Clinton sneezed. Quick, cut into regular programming, call it “breaking news” and report on it for hours. Bring in doctors, weather specialists and pollen enthusiasts to comment and speculate why such an incident occurred.

That is seriously what they are grasping at to fill the airtime. It makes me wonder if the media is more obsessed with every minor detail or if it is actually what viewers want and expect. Perhaps they’re just focused on rigging the election like Mr. Trump claims.

It’s hard to tell because you see the rallies and you see people so gung-ho with their protest signs where they are actually that committed to their favoured candidate – or at least to picketing about the one they hate.

I don’t know that any of the Canadian candidates for prime minister gathered as big a crowd as Clinton or Trump do at their rallies. It’s not even a matter of population numbers because we have similar-sized cities as the U.S. and the presidential candidates have rockstar status and fill arenas and stadiums.

But despite how involved and vocal Americans are about their politics it is still incredibly fascinating to see how divided they are as a nation. Admittedly, Canada is divided but not to the extent where people have shouting matches and disagreements and physical altercations about political debate.

I can only imagine what will happen on election night in the U.S. I assure you I will be tuned into that for hours on end.

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