I listened to talk radio (CNN and NPR, specifically) for the first real time in my life last week.

For over twelve hours.

I won’t go into the details of the mental breakdown that isnpired me to do this, but I will say that it had something to do with a drive from Oregon to Canada, a Sirius satellite radio, and a husband who didn’t like being ignored by a book-reading wife.

Who’s recommendation was this? Thanks, whoever tipped me off. It reminded me of a certain small town of barely 3,000 people. Quite endearing. Photo from here.

It was also the day that the Bailout Bill was being put back to The House for debate and a re-vote, and the highly anticipated (and only) vice presidential debate was scheduled to take place.

And did you know? If you listen to CNN all day long, for twelve hours straight, you will hear the same news over and over. For twelve hours straight.

I learned that all Sarah Palin had to do at the debate was not sound like a blubbering idiot, and she would have come out the victor. And Joe Biden’s (can I call him “Joe?”) only task was to refer to Palin as “Governor,” not acknowledging in any way, shape, or form, the gender of his opponent, and it would be considered a tie. Fair and square.

I also learned the terms Freddie and Fannie, the names Frank Raines and Barney Frank, and that $700,000,000,000 (that’s seven hundred billion dollars…as in billion) is supposed to save our economy [which, incidentally, is worse off than it ever was in the Dirty Thirties, as Canadians know the Great Depression].

It’s almost like I got smart…or something.

The most important thing I learned, however, is that I have no idea who I should vote for in the presidential election. I have already learned my lesson that it’s silly to vote for a candidate based on what family is doing. I want proof. I want evidence. I want to know, for myself, for sure, that I am voting for the right person. In my travels abroad, I have met a lot of people, and I’ve learned that, from outside our borders, many people think America is a laughingstock. I was shocked when I first realised that not everybody hails America as the greatest country on Earth. It opened my eyes, and I have been supremely interested in my world perspective ever since.

I want to vote for the team that will make the rest of the world stop laughing at me.

Only I can’t figure out which team that is.

I know that so many people would give their organs (not the vital ones, maybe just a kidney, but still…) to be able to vote in this election. People throughout history have fought for the right to vote. I do not take it lightly. In fact, I’m starting a poll of Canadians, asking who they would vote for if they had a choice. So far I’m 1-1 (it’s a small poll–I don’t have a lot of friends up here).

So I’m asking you to weigh in. Not that I’m going to vote for whoever you vote for…but I’d like to hear people’s pros and cons…why you’ve decided who you did, or if you are struggling to decide, like I am. And don’t be shy [or do be…whatever works]. You don’t have to answer. If you want to, you are welcome to hide behind anonymity, or you can leave your comment under a name that only I would know, like “Your Manager From the Gallery in Scottsdale” or “The Person Who Accused You of Stealing my Graphing Calculator Freshman Year at ASU” or “Your Mother.” Or else you can just leave your name and buck up for the ensuing mud-slinging. I get it all the time–it’s not so bad.

I ask this so I can see the world from some different perspectives, not so I can raise you-know-what. I need help, is all.

Ready? Go!

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