By Abdullahi Sheikh

With the United States’ election day come and gone, it’s no small wonder that we pay so much attention to their politics.

We may have players as interesting as Justin Trudeau and as vile as Stephen Harper, but we’re almost a high school play compared to the Broadway musical that is American politics.

Regardless of how you feel about the candidates, you’ve probably got your own opinion on who should win and why and I’d bet your neighbour’s got one too.

Now, I’m not trying to say that we should focus solely on our own politics and ignore the rest of the world (probably exactly the opposite of what any newspaper should be advocating) but instead we should take a minute to assess why we are so fond of turning on the television to watch what new debacle whichever presidential candidate has caused.

I think that, ultimately, we’re just more interested by what’s happening just past the border, and it’s not just because they’ve got an African-American president, Silicon Valley and an IHop in every city (although that last one certainly helps.)

It really is more than that. Our infatuation with our Southern cousins must have some basis in reality, right?

There’s got to be a reason that American politics gets our hearts racing while Canadian politics make us check for a pulse.

Well, as someone whose been on both sides of the fence, I think it really just arises from a discontent we, the Canadian people, have regarding our own government and its inner workings.

Whether it’s our style of government (first-past-the-post tends to leave us annoyed the most) or the actions of our officials, we’ve become a bit bored with our government as a whole.

American politics serve as an interesting diversion from the regular tedium of Canadian politics. In a way, Canadian politics can be seen as a Big Top while American Politics represent Cirque du Soliel.

Although going to a circus can be fun, can it really compare to seeing horses trot to the musical styling’s of Michael Jackson?

Now, you don’t have to agree with me on this one, but next time you turn on the television, I want you to see which news channel you’d rather watch when they start to talk shop about politic

And, more importantly, I want you to think about why.

As for Michael Jackson, no, obviously not. Now if only we could get Romney’s horse in Cavalia.