Election Fun

Infectious Laughter beat me to the punch on this one because I was just about to write about the election!
I'm not sure if everyone would know this about me, but I love elections. I love politics. I wouldn't want to be a politician, but I find politics fascinating. When 9pm came last night I was glued to the tv to see who would win.
For me the most interesting race was definitely Don Valley West - or the John Tory vs. Kathleen Wynne riding. That is my former riding. It's quite the riding. You have a huge mix of people because you have Flemingdon Park which is low income, high immigrant population and you also have Don Mills which is more affluent. And, any candidate who wants to win in that riding has to appeal to all sorts of people.
I have to admit I like John Tory. I don't agree with his entire platform, but I like him. However, he was running against one of my favourite politicians. The one great thing about living where we lived was Kathleen Wynne. Seriously. She was involved in the riding - all of it. She was big on creating programs as much for low income as higher income.
When you combine the fact that people really love her and that she high profile together with the fact that she's the education minister and John Tory handed her an election issue to run with I was really really curious how he would pull off the win. And he didn't.
I feel bad for him.
But, dude, pick a different riding.
As for our riding? I went Liberal. Why? Because I actually knew what the Liberal candidate stood for. I was pretty surprised that Conservative in our area got elected. But, either was a good choice for us, so I'm happy with it.
But, mostly I have to say I'm glad McGuinty won. What I liked about his campaign was that it wasn't all negative. I hate campaigns where candidates rely on attack ads to win an election. I truly believe that if your platform is good and if you stand for what you believe in that is enough. Of course you have to go into debates and display your opponents shortcomings. But, being positive is what it's about for me.
But, finally, I watched the speeches at the end. Of all of them, Howard Hampton's was my favourite. He was so sincere and appreciative of the people who helped him out. I loved when he pointed out a former teacher of his and thanked his family. When they did a shot of all the people in the room I was impressed. People were moved to tears. It wasn't about the correct political posturing for Hampton. It was about being a genuine person. And I was impressed. Not impressed enough that I'd want him to be the Premier, but still impressed.
And, I think we're coming up to a Federal Election soon ... I can't wait!