Election Night Disaster

I have never been so happy to call Canada home.

It is not a perfect country, but it is my home and I love it.

I have just returned from 24 hours of a roller coaster adventure in Bellingham, Washington. I wanted to experience the US election first hand. And I wanted to see George Bush and his war mongering isolationist get their asses kicked out of office.

It looked like it would happen. And then it didn't. And then it did. And then... well, you know the rest.

Around noon on election day, my pal Ted Shredd picked me up. He runs a website called Discover Fun and he wanted to do a piece for the site (which has an international audience) on how to have fun during an election.

I had a secondary reason for going south - to do a story on the American Museum of Radio.

12:00 - Ted pulls up in his Honda Accord, emblazoned with Discover Fun logos.

12:05 - We're headed south through heavy traffic to Bellingham, which is only about an hour away.

12:45 - US Customs: We take the truck crossing because the line-ups are usually shorter here than the Peace Arch crossing. I had checked some of the online border cameras before we left, and there didn't seem to be much volume.

There wasn't.

We pulled into the customs plaza which has about 6 lanes open for cars headed south. There is all sorts of weird new security stuff here too... scanners and sniffers and liberal detectors.

But there were no cars. The entire plaza was empty. No traffic what-so-ever. Did the rest of the world know something we didn't?

The woman at customs was friendly - and we joked about the line-ups. Ted says the way to get through customs with a minimum of hassle is to ask a question first... that creates a more conversational environment and reduces the chance of a Texas-style anal probe.

Within seconds we had crossed the 49th and were heading straight into election day hi-jinks in America.

Washington State leans heavily Democrat, so we didn't expect a lot of pro-Bush signs. And there wasn't a lot of signs anyway. Little pockets of support here and there, but nothing crazy.

1:00 - I-5 Southbound: I call Jonathan Winter at the American Museum of Radio to let him know that we've made it into the country. The plan is to meet with at the museum to do an interview and snap some images for my story on the museum.

1:45 - We arrive at the museum and I proceed to interview the two Johns about the facility. I snap a few dozen pictures - trying to learn how to use the new camera to produce publishable pictures.

3:00 - The interviews done, Ted and I head to the Best Western Lakeside Inn. This is not only our hotel for the night, it is also the site of the local Democratic party.

3:04 - We pass many people waving signs - mostly Democratic. Ted remarks that he doubts signwaving on election day would convince someone to switch their vote.

3:07 - We discover a massive puddle in the parking lot of the hotel. Ted drives through this several times while I snap photos.

3:10 - Check in to hotel, discover that we cannot get FoxNews or Comedy Central. But we do get CTV Vancouver, which will show the Daily Show election special.

3:20 - Head to conference room and make contact with local Dems. Not much dressing in the room, but a few big screens. Organizer promises lots of signs. Appears to be a buffet too.

4:00 - Food! We need food! After goofing around will hotel staff, we head out in search of food.

4:03 - We find a place... it'll be a NAFTA meal: Canadians eating at a Mexican joint in America.

5:00 - Bueno! Good skoff.

5:05 - Roll out of eatery with American-sized bellies, return to the hotel.

5:10 - Pass a group of female Kerry supporters dressed up in tight fitting Stars and Stripes and Union Jack outfits. Stop. Chat. Take pictures. We are told that they plan to join the party at the hotel.

5:15 - Flake out and digest.

7:00 - Daily Show election special starts. Very funny.

7:30 - Head down to the big party room. There is still a lack of flags, banners and signs. But the buffet looks like it has potential. There is just one bar, and a long line of hopeful Democrats has formed behind it.

We start to wander around and meet people. There is Joe, from the local news-talk radio station. He's a one-man band - setting up to do live reports from the party. He talks about the current state of radio and how politics has polarized talk radio. His station has a conservative bent, but he seems reasonable on most issues.

The place is filling up fast - and there are few seats left. Ted and I decide to join a table of young folks. One, Gabriel, is a dead-ringer for an 18-year-old Beck. His politics are definitely left, as are all the others at the table. This should come as no surprise, considering where we are.

We have a level headed chat about America and the world today. It is heartening to meet and talk to Americans, who are proud of their country - but also have a world view and clear thinking. You'd be hard pressed to tell these guys from a table of Canadians.


(MORE TO COME)