Phil Briscoe - on the US election

By John Hill on September 10, 2008 1:00 AM |

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Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

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THINGS are bigger in America, and timing a trip to coincide with both Democratic and Republican Conventions proves elections are no exception.

Excitement was not limited to the 100,000 people at the conventions, the hundreds of Republicans I met while watching John McCain on a big screen in California, or the hundreds of Democrats we encountered watching Barack Obama on screen in Washington.

Posters jostled for position alongside the roadside in endless towns, and the must-have bumper sticker is an election one.

In gift shops, postcards have yielded to a selection of McCain and Obama buttons.

Campaign shops have appeared in small towns, and street vendors will happily sell you a political garden banner or a window poster.

In the media, there is only one story in town as the election dominates the newspapers as well as television and radio news shows.

There is a tangible buzz about the election, helped by big issues such as energy independence and the historic first that will see either Obama and Joe Biden or McCain and Sarah Palin in the White House. But the other magical ingredient is patriotism, where everyone believes in their country and the government of their country.

We may be democratic experts but perhaps we could learn something too.

If we spent more time celebrating our nation rather than undermining it and if we focused more on preserving our heritage rather than modernising it, then maybe we too could super-size interest in our elections.