Moving up in the world

After interning at the West Island Chronicle, a local weekly, I have arranged to write a weekly column on the U.S. election for it's parent company, Transcontinental. The column will appear on the websites of four local papers including the Chronicle, and I plan on liveblogging the Conventions as well as Election Day in November.
What I write will still appear on this blog, and I will be seeking to have my columns published or posted elsewhere.
Here is the "Introductory" column I wrote for Transcontinental.
-Alex

You have to admit, everyone is watching. It may not be dinner table or water cooler conversation to the extent that it is south of the border, but most Canadians are paying attention to the American presidential race on one level or another.
College professors are bringing it up during lectures every chance they get, and the younger generation is bearing Barack Obama’s face on their t-shirts and Facebook profiles. News from the campaign trail is common in Canadian media, and many people elect to just leave their televisions on CNN.
I started watching, well, about four years ago, and never stopped. I’m what you might call a political junkie, and my drug of choice is looking southward at my favourite reality TV show, American politics. I was in my fourth year at the University of Western Ontario and had recently become fascinated with it in the volatile years after September 11th, debating friends about the merits of the Iraq war.
I became hooked on the daily events of the final two months of the 2004 election campaign and made myself a promise that somehow, four years down the road, I would be in some way involved in the 2008 contest.
Late last year I was discussing my interest in American politics with an instructor at Concordia and she suggested that I just drive down, walk into a campaign office, and offer to help the candidate of my choice. I had no idea it would be so easy, and would later find out how desperate political campaigns are for volunteer help.
I wasn't about to just drive south and hope for the best, so I did some research. I perused the websites of my top three candidates; Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. I had for a long time liked Joe Biden and thought he had the right ideas, experience, and charisma. I considered him my top choice, even though his chances were slim. Of the more likely candidates, I had for a long time admired Hillary Clinton's intelligence and strength, and really appreciated how she would dominate most debates. Since I saw him speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, I saw Barack Obama's story as fascinating and expected to see a lot of him in the future of American politics.
I ended up getting an internship with Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign, which eventually earned me a position as a paid field organizer in Texas and Pennsylvania. I spent five months total on the campaign and gained an understanding of the psyche of the average American voter. Bottom line, most of them make their choice based on a single simple reason. For some it’s a policy stance, for others, a candidate’s character or background.
Even though Hillary’s campaign was unsuccessful, I’m still going to be glued to the television over the next three months to see what happens. Whether that television is in my home in Montreal or in a bar in Washington, D.C. I’m hoping that through this weekly column you’ll all be able to watch it with me.
I’ll admit, I’m pro-Obama, but I also have great respect for John McCain and as a journalism student, I’ve got an incentive to be as fair as possible. Regardless, I’m not a reporter, so until November I’ll be giving you what I think about the issues, the campaigns, and the soap opera that is the U.S. election.
I’d also like to hear from you, the reader. Leave me a comment here or on my blog at alexleduc.com and don’t hold back, because I won’t.