Hillary, forget U.S. -- Canada adores you
Liberals and Conservatives north of the border admire her
I chuckled, not because the idea of Hillary Clinton as president is outrageous, but because I know Americans don't give a darn about what Canadians think, and why would anyone in Canada throw good money at a poll like this? (I can laugh, I was born in Canada.) The last news I read about Canada in a major American paper was the burgeoning trend toward moose hunting among the wealthy. When Americans think of Canada, they think of snow and polar bears.
I am not surprised about Canadians preferring Hillary. After all, they know her the best of all the candidates running for president; they watched her ups and downs through the Clinton White House years and they even applauded her health-care initiative, not understanding Americans' resistance to paying for universal health care. And Bill has been up to Canada lots lately getting millions for public speeches. Barack Obama and John Edwards are unknowns and Canadians, with their social safety net, would never think of supporting a Republican.
"Canadian support for Hillary Clinton cuts across age, education level, and even political affiliation," the poll reported. Liberals admire her, so do Conservatives. The Quebecois positively love her.
Canadians have always warmed to Hillary, seeing her as a brilliant woman. Most Canadian women of a certain age have kept their maiden names, so when the ruckus over "Rodham" came up, Canuck women shook their heads. What's the big deal about a woman using her maiden name, they wondered.
Canada's Governor General, Michaelle Jean, kept her name and so did previous Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. [The governor general is the queen's representative in Canada.]
The good news for Hillary is that if she doesn't win the Democratic nomination, she can always emigrate to Canada. Since the current governor general is a Haitian immigrant, Hillary could think about that position since she wasn't born in Canada either. Or she could run for prime minister and the only moose she'd have to flip would be on the Canadian quarter.
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The Obama girl was getting great traction on YouTube two weeks ago. So far there have been almost 2 million hits to watch the video "I Got a Crush ... On Obama" written and sung by Leah Kauffman and starring The Obama Girl, a bodacious babe named Amber Lee Ettinger who was one of Howard Stern's Girls of the Month last year.
Here are some of the lyrics Amber, wearing a tight T-shirt with Obama's picture on it, swivels her hips to:
"I put down my Kerry sign, I had to make you mine.
"You're into border security. Let's break this border between you and me."
The creator of the video, Ben Relles, a young New York advertising exec, says a new video featuring the Obama Girl and another politician will be released on YouTube next week, but he wouldn't name the politician. (My money is on Fred Thompson.)
Songwriter Kauffman, a senior at Temple University in Philadelphia, has signed a record contract as a consequence of her Obama song.
Obama's campaign strategists have been trying to ignore the whole thing but Relles is relishing the global notoriety. Look at some of the headlines:
Times Online (UK): "Obama tangled up by net model."
iAfrica.com: "The weird side of the 2008 US race."
Sydney Morning Herald: "Scantily clad fan voices her love for Barack."
Relles got the Obama video idea walking home from work and listening to the conversation of two women who were talking about how smart and cute they think Obama is.
If I were Obama I wouldn't argue with that.
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A study being released today by Women's Voices, Women's Vote shows there is a huge untapped block of potential Democratic voters: Unmarried people, particularly women, and they are a growing demographic. In Illinois, for example, 50.1 percent of the households are headed by single people.
About 47 percent of American women live without a spouse and these women make up 25 percent of the eligible electorate. Single women, the study shows, tend to support the Democrats over the Republicans. Half of unmarried Latinas did not vote in 2004 -- clearly an untapped resource.
The voting turnout rate for single women is 9 percent higher than single men. But most unmarried Americans -- half are under age 49 -- are cynical about politics. Unmarried women are progressive -- supportive of abortion rights, for instance -- but, not surprisingly, they are most concerned about economic issues and health care.
Democrats, you'd better start knocking on more doors!