Election Day 2008 Vote Vote Vote

Today is election day 2008. I will vote, as I always do and as everyone is responsible to do, but I will vote with much concern over the leadership of our country.

This election has demonstrated the depths to which the election process in Canada has sunk. We are in the grips of negative, win at any costs, campaigning. In the post-literate society the average voter is educated either through spoon-feeding from the mass media, or unfiltered through exposure to internet. Either we eat the pablum that feeds our fears and preconceived notions, or we find someone who will support what we want to believe in the finest detail.

Election 2008 should prove to be a waste, meaning a minority government who knew that there were troubling times ahead on the economic front and world stage, decided that it was time to capitalize on its well-funded popularity and hold an early election. Let us not forget that we are in the era of the fixed election date, a law established by this minority Conservative government, and a law broken by the same government at the first chance it had. This should have been the first sign that this election was more about winning then establishing an vision and direction for Canada.

What we learned during this election campaign is that Elizabeth May is the only leader who has the intelligence, personality and conviction to be an effective leader. I don't think for a second that The Green party will win, but I hope that they are able to elect one candidate (Ms May preferably) to the House of Commons. The other leaders showed, in varying degrees, how they are the forgotten men of another age.

When the analysis of Election 2008 is completed, I would hope that this is recognized as a turning point in Canadian politics. My dream is that Canadians realize that we deserve strong, intelligent, charismatic leaders, and these leaders are responsible to us to provide vision, a strong work ethic, and strength of character to lead this country in the early years of the the 21st century.

After this election I believe that there are four party leaders, whose leadership should be up for review. King Stephen has not been able to deliver the mandates that Brian Mulroney successfully manufactured, and he has proven that he is a minority Prime Minister -- King Stephen the Minor. The Conservatives are very good at eating their own, and King Stephen's control freakishness will wear thin on his Ministers and back-benchers who want to rule with an iron glove -- all King Stephen can deliver is an icy mitt. Harper's leadership should be up for review, and he should consider how to move on gracefully and within a reasonable time frame.

Stephane Dion is the interim leader for the Liberal Party, and they would do well to convince him to move on to greener pastures immediately after the campaign. Dion might crow about his success in the campaign, how he brought the election back from the brink of a majority, but the truth is, King Stephan did this all by himself. His own miscalculations were the ruin of this party in this campaign; Mr Dion cannot claim anything more than holding the line. He has been there long enough, and he has had no success at all. Unable to raise his profile or the war-chest necessary before the last election, his leadership will be marked as a puddle of mud.

I wouldn't allow Jack Layton to sit at my kitchen table if he brought the meal; not that his ego would allow his head to fit around the average sized kitchen table. Layton is an intellectual lightweight, and has taken the NDP to the position of the status quo. Unfortunately, it is not the status quo of 2008, but rather 1988, and he has not provided one original idea or value that would make the NDP relevant again in Canadian political discourse. We need one voice on the left of the spectrum to speak for the average Canadian, and the NDP either needs to honour that future or get out of the way.

If changes are not made to our political system, and soon, I see us evolving into a country so divided by regionalism that we will waste most of our time and energy fighting amongst ourselves rather than moving the country forward. This is the desire of King Stephan -- divide and conquer -- but we don't have to accept this.

Vote, vote early, vote often.

Vote your conscience.