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Please allow me to introduce myself…

RyanR

Good evening, and be forewarned.  Jill has invited me to live-blog the next presidential debate, and I’ve wrangled the invitation into a de facto guest-blogging gig.  I warn you for a simple, but important, reason:  I have a strong tendency to try to say everything all the time, and to get wordy about it.  For example, by abandoned first draft ran nearly 400 words before I said anything relevant to the US Presidential Election.  I’ll try to behave myself.

My name is Ryan Rutley, I post in the comments, and you may remember my posting a few years ago under the name KnifeGhost.

I live in Victoria, BC (yes, Canada), and I’m an absolute geek for American Presidential politics.  As you may know, Canada’s in the middle of a federal election (we vote on the 14th of October), and although I care, and have made up my mind (Green!), Canadian Federal politics are at a low point and I can’t be bothered to may any attention to it.

I remember that Reagan was at some point the president, and then some guy named Bush was, but 1992 was the first year I was aware that the election was happening and that one guy or the other won.  I was 10.  In 1996, I was making cracks about Bob Dole with my friends over ICQ.  I was 14.  In 2000, I rushed home after school each day to mix up a big glass of chocolate milk and watch the primaries on CNN.  I was pulling for a Bradley-McCain election, had no particular love for Gore, and by November I was a big Nader fan.  (Hey, I said I’m Canadian.  I didn’t actually vote for him.  For the record, Gore ran a dismal campaign, and should have fired everybody remotely tied to the Clintons in June.)  I was 18.  In 2004, I read Salon.com religiously for election coverage, was pulling for Dean (pettiest scandal EVAR), tried to work up a good head of optimism for Kerry, but we all know how that ended.  I was 22.

Now, I’m 26, and the greatest leader of our generation (so far) is poised for a strong win in one month, and I think is on pace for a landslide.  I’m here to try to provide some perspective, some analysis, some dare-I-say wisdom, but at very least I can promise some smartass one-liners.  And that, ultimately, is enough to keep me happy.

I’ll wrap it up now because if I don’t I’ll write a novel.  I’ll save that for, at the earliest, Sunday evening.

Thanks, Jill, for the invitation, thanks, readers, for the indulgence, and thanks, previous bloggers on Feministe, for being such illustrious company to now be a part of.

(Register to vote, if you haven’t already.  I haven’t.  Because in Canada all you need to vote is to prove your identity and address.  And all citizens are eligible to vote.  Cause we’re wacky socialists about that kinda stuff.)

11 thoughts on Please allow me to introduce myself…

  1. Canadian Federal politics are at a low point and I can’t be bothered to may any attention to it.

    *makes a strangling noise*

    Given that we are faced with the possibility of 4-5 more years of I-want-to-be-Bush-light Harper, I’m finding Canadian politics very engaging.

  2. Thank dog you’re doing it, because I sure as hell didn’t want to. 😀

    I was sick during the VP debates so I recorded them, watched about the first half hour yesterday, then had to turn it off. For my own well-being. Also because I wanted to drop-kick my TV.

  3. Welcome I am a fellow cannuck myself. I actually thought on the night of the VP debate why did they schedule the Canadian debate for the same time. Lets be honest most Cannucks watched the US debate. I don’t know if it is because we are all decided already or because we find our own politics boring. It also be because we feel that the thief, homophobe, racist Harper has this thing locked down. I really wish we had someone like Obama to energize us again. I fear we are in for some rough times and with Stevo at the head of the ship those that are the most vulnerable are bound to sink. Like you I am going green…the little party that could.

  4. Yay Greens. I watched our debate because she was in it. Considering there were five parties, it’s kind of impressive how many topics were talked about in two hours. Of course lots were missed but it seems like so many were missed in the VP debate with two people. They get to talk for a good while it seems. I believe one survey found Harper was the only one who did worse at the debate than people had expected. So yeah, I’m interested in ours. Public opinion does change, hopefully in the direction we want it to in the future.

  5. *waves vigorously*

    I’m totally excited to hear your take on things as an “outsider.” Though I must say, your election’s pretty important too if what I’ve been hearing from my other Canadian friends is right. It’s just more boring than ours, apparently. 🙂

  6. Siobhan, I should clarify. The _stakes_ of this election are the highest we’ve see in a good long time. My confidence in the ability of Canadian Parliament to get its shit together is at a low point, and the feeling that we have a credible and inspiring option is in a lull. I can’t think of a realistic outcome of this election that would be particular good, outside of another Conservative minority and the opposition parties getting their shit together to form a majority coalition. But then, a Green majority is probably more realistic than that.

    I’m trying to think of who someone could draft as an inspiring unifying leader in Canada, and the list is pretty short. Too bad Peter Gzowski’s dead……

    But I’m not here to talk about Canadian politics, because about the only thing I have to say about it right now is “ugh”. American politics, however, I’m literally dreaming about. (See my next post….)

  9. Cool, I’m in Victoria also! This city is feeling smaller and smaller the older I get. Anyways, I have been feeling guilty about my interest in the US election in comparison to the one happening in my own country. Not a single Canadian politician is holding my interest…I have given it my best, I have tried to follow the news and the debates but I feel I am only being offered the same old same old. I can’t say I am shocked by the number of “Obama for President” signs and t-shirts( yes, t-shirts!) I have been seeing around Victoria lately.

  10. I’m a bit encouraged that the opposition leaders teamed up against Harper in the debate — it gives me a shred of hope that they might swallow their pride and team up against Harper in the House of Commons. Right now the best result I can think of is a Liberal-NDP coalition government (with a few Greens). I’m not holding my breath, but at very least a Conservative majority is looking less and less likely.

  11. Vancouver BC gal over here, but I’m a radical progressive so I pretty much only have the option of voting against a party (even in Canada 🙁 ). I will be happy with the ol’ ABC (anything but Conservatives), but it has been nice to see the Greens being a part of the debates etc. Obama definitely gives me the warm fuzzies -even thought he’s far too centrist for me, I can’t help but get a bit giddy at the thought of seeing him as the Prez (his family pics are alarmingly cute too).

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