His term runs until the end of 2027 — he just wanted to play along.
When the neighbour coughs, Canada and most of its elbows get extremely attentive. I sit in and stand on Newmarket. Today I’ll be holding my breath more than usual. Because in the United States of America, today is election day — members of Congress and the Senate. And all this in a two-party system between right and left, between red and blue, with no shades in between.
These midterm elections have always stirred up the American political landscape. But this year the commentary reads as though there may or may not be a future after this vote. Americans are used to having their political fever checked every two years. Either a new president is confirmed, or members of the Senate and Congress are confirmed, or new candidates are elected.
A process that never fails to astonish.
And we Canadians hold our breath for a moment.
Quite unlike the statistics of election forecasts and results. In eighteen of the last twenty midterm elections, the sitting president afterward became a lame duck. Because a majority of the non-governing party’s members could reject nearly every presidential decision.
These elections feel like more is at stake than just two chambers of Congress. Not only within America, but here up north, or even across the whole globe. There are voices beforehand saying the outcome of the election hardly matters, because the US president will call the results rigged and fraudulent anyway. And announce it as such.
For Bern and Ottawa, such an expectation is barely imaginable, because in these capitals of Switzerland and Canada, nothing of the sort has ever happened. Elections are cast by rightful citizens into a secure system. And that is exactly why no one questions them.
Knowing? No. Only guessing, commenting, hoping. That’s all anyone has left — myself included.
So, now I’m going outside to pump the good Canadian air of Newmarket deep into my lungs.
Ergo: today I’ll lounge around a bit.
