THE U.S. ELECTION: A QUESTION OF CREDIBILITY

Even more interesting than the presidential campaign itself is the willingness - even eagerness - of people outside the U.S. to offer their two cents. Up here in Canada - seemingly - there has been poll after poll on the subject of who Canadians would vote for, if they could vote in the U.S.'s presidential election in the fall. Similar polls have been conducted in many other countries - particularly in Europe.

Presumably, everyone has heard by now that Barack Obama is the most popular - abroad - of the three main presidential candidates. What we haven't been told - so far (and I won't hold my breath waiting) - is just how much the people polled know about the people they've been polled about. How many of the fans of Obama know anything about him - beyond the fact he is black? How many of them could tell us which political office he holds, or for how long, or the state he represents?

My suspicion is strong that these poll subjects know as little about John McCain as they know about Obama. No doubt they all know McCain is the Republican candidate - and I would bet that that is just about all they know about him.

Thanks to America's movie-makers and comedians, most folks outside of the U.S. have been convinced that the Republican party represents all that is supposedly wrong with America. These folks of course wonder why it is that Republicans are so often elected to political office - and especially they wonder why so many presidents have been Republicans. This curiosity may explain the popularity of conspiracy theories.

If my American friends are at all flattered by the interest in their election, I respectfully suggest they shouldn't be. These polls in particular represent something far more than simple interest. The results of these polls - fully anticipated before the first subject is approached - are fully intended to sway voters in the United States. Obviously, the people conducting these polls hope that Americans will make the "popular" choice in November.

No doubt there are Americans who are swayed by this campaign abroad. Any American who is as shallow as the people participating in the polls - who believes a president popular abroad would be good for the country - would probably be more inclined to vote Democrat.

Most Americans - hopefully - would not be swayed, and might in fact be offended by this obvious attempt at tampering in U.S. politics. Most Americans - who know anything about history - realize that the unpopularity of the United States is part and parcel of the place their country holds in the world today. America is now - and has been for a few decades - the dominant nation in the world. America assumed the crown Britain once wore, and finds itself as unpopular as Britain once was.

As long as the United States is the dominant nation in the world - and conducts itself accordingly - the United States will be unpopular with many people around the world. Most Americans - presumably - do not want to pay the price inherent in losing their dominant place in the world. They need only look back at what became of Britain - last century - when the sun slowly set on the British Empire.