political giddyness

Paul Martin gave a speech in Winnipeg on January 3rd, 2006... it is a speech basically addressing the issues of the campaign; other days I would just say "meh, another political speech", as we all know, typically speeches are rather boring, even after bits and pieces of humor are slipped in... however, today is another story... today, in the PM's speech, he opened with:

With three weeks to go until election day, I think it’s fair to say it is only now that most Canadians will be giving this campaign their full attention. During the next number of days, I’ll be presenting elements of our election platform. But today, I want to do something a little different. I want to tell you about an email I received. “I’m voting for the first time,” a young woman wrote. “Tell me why I should vote for you.”

A few weeks ago, the PM's speechwriter asked on the offical Liberal website, for people to send in whatever question they wanted, and he (the speechwriter) would ask Paul Martin - and in turn, the PM would anwer the question. I asked, word for word, what Paul Martin said in those quotation marks. I said to him "I'm voting for the first time, tell me why I should vote for you." I am the "young woman"... I realize that he has probably gotten a billion questions like this, however what are the chances that Paul Martin would say word for word, what an impressionable 18-year-old girl said? I don't think it's a coincidence really, I have a feeling that he read my e-mail, as he'd read dozens before... what got me, is that Paul Martin refers back to the 'young woman' a few times - in the middle and at the end of his speech...

I answered her. But since then, I’ve found myself reflecting on that email – because what she’s asking is really the question that Canadians are asking across our country. They are looking at the parties and the leaders. They are looking to vote for someone, and for something. They are looking to vote for a vision of Canada that is faithful to their values and the values on which this country was forged.

Today, I want to set the stage for the second half of the campaign by talking about those values – by giving my view of what’s at stake in this election and what it means for Canada. Because therein lies the answer to that young woman’s question – it lies in the values and the beliefs of those who seek to be prime minister.

I cannot help but feel rather giddy - he answered my question; the Prime Minister of Canada not only read my e-mail and answered it... but to answer it in a nation-wide speech is amazing. All of my questions regarding this election have been answered - all it took was a genuine response by a politician.I could be wrong, it may be all coincidence, but I find it just a bit ironic, that what I asked, was answered/mentioned in such a speech... by the PM... needless to say, I am quite giddy, all questions answered in a well-thought out national speech.