Comments on: Obama wins all of Canada’s electoral votes in a landslide

By: Christopher D.

Christopher D. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:04:59 +0000

I do a customer service job, and I really wish Canadian customers would stfu about Obama and stop wasting time congratulating me on having elected an inexperienced one-term senator with ties to very bad people to our presidency.

By: thefrogprincess

thefrogprincess — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:48:23 +0000

I’m doing research in England and last week a random woman came up to me at a bus stop to congratulate me on Obama’s victory. She was considerably more excited than I was, and I was excited. Many newscasters, journalists, and talk show hosts were in near tears and were saying things like “We’re so proud of America.” Headlines include, “Welcome back, America.” But perhaps the most touching thing I saw was on the metro in Paris over the weekend when what looked to be relatively poor black men were jubilant over Obama and just talking enthusiastically about him to anybody who would listen. The change has been shocking, to be frank.

By: Ann Bartow

Ann Bartow — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:21:53 +0000

The common theme of many conversations I had was, “Obama will be a good President, like Bill Clinton was.” But nobody was too surprised that Americans couldn’t bring themselves to elect a woman, sadly.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:28:55 +0000

Hi all, and welcome to Liz–I hope you’ll comment again. Thanks for your comments. It was a long travel day from the St. Lawrence River Valley all the way back to the dusty (but warm and sunny!) ranch that is Historiann HQ.

I had a very interesting conversation en francais with my cab driver this morning who wanted to talk politics all the way to the airport. He was happy about Obama’s election, but asked, “I thought that Americans were happy in the Clinton years. Why didn’t Hillary Clinton win the nomination?”

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:53:37 +0000

I read your blog more than I comment, but thought I would de-lurk to say that I’m in South Africa at the moment, and there has been non-stop coverage here. People I meet ask me if I “did the right thing.” It’s pretty great–South Africa has always had a more nuanced view of America than some other places, due to historical alliances between African Americans and black South Africans, but it still feels like a weight off my shoulders.

By: Fratguy

Fratguy — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:03:16 +0000

Your customs official’s remark reminded me of one of the cleverer quips in the West Wing election episode. When Toby was asked for the White house reaction to the failed house bid of the philandering (democrat) son in law of the president, he responded quietly “we’re calling it a victory for the district.”

I also think that the post 9/11 sympathy in Great Britian would have lasted longer had we not endlessly compared the terroist attacks to London during the blitz, yes the atacks were terifying and horrific, but they were nothing like the blitz, ex pat retirees, in NY, who had survived the blitz, said so, at the time, and were quoted in the NYT.

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:38:39 +0000

Actually, I can imagine the atmostphere. Oddly enough, in England after 9/11 it was the same. DIdn’t last, of course.

By: hysperia

hysperia — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:59:10 +0000

This Canadian can’t help but wish you’d been in Quebec last week when we had almost record high temps!

And guess what – from what I hear, Stephen Harper runs somewhere to the left of Barack Obama! Can this be true?

By: Notorious Ph.D.

Notorious Ph.D. — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:57:32 +0000

As soon as the results were confirmed, I e-mailed my closest friend in the European country where I do my research. “Can I come back now?”, I wanted to know. He seemed just as thrilled with the news as I was. But I seriously don’t think that’s possible.

By: GayProf

GayProf — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:27:33 +0000

Yes, now we can smugly offer Canadians our sympathy for Steven Harper being their Prime Minister.