Canadians for Obama

By Michael J.W. Stickings

A new poll conducted here in Canada shows that Obama is well ahead of both Clinton and McCain in terms of support among Canadians. Clinton was ahead of Obama by 11 points in January, but he is now ahead of her by 9 points. More:

Obama's popularity was highest in Ontario and especially in Alberta, where he held a 23-point lead over Clinton.

He also led among all age groups, but his support was double that of Clinton's among respondents under age 25 -- 54 per cent to 27 per cent.

Obama had a huge lead among male respondents -- 44 per cent to 25 per cent -- but also held a one-point lead among women. Only four per cent of Canadian women support McCain, the poll suggests.

Obama also led with self-declared Conservative voters -- 36 per cent of whom expressed support for him, while 31 per cent supported Clinton and 19 per cent supported McCain.

Does it matter? Maybe not to most Americans -- after all, most Americans don't care about what Canadians think generally -- but certainly to us, we who live right next to the U.S., we who are so deeply connected to the U.S. in so many ways -- socially, politically, culturally, economically.

Yes, it matters to us who the next president is. And, it seems, we really want it to be Obama. Young and old, men and women, liberals and conservatives, all across this great country: our preference is clear. Americans may not care about what we think, and it may make no difference to them what we think, but we pay extremely close attention to political developments south of the border, and, overall, our views on American politics are well-informed, perceptive, and, while often critical, generally good-spirited. Most of us, I would say, only want the best for our American friends.

I'm Michael Stickings -- and I'm a Canadian (and an Ontarian) for Obama.