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In Canada you rarely hear about politician's families, if at all. You see the spouses in photo-ops with visiting dignitaries but that's about it. No one cares about their chocolate cookie recipes or fashion sense or even their thoughts on policy.
When they do surface in the news, it's for entertainment value only and there's no national handrwinging about the fate of the nation. Here are some stories that come to mind over the past couple of decades that I can actually remember: (in order of spontaneous recollection)
1) Prime Minister Joe Clark's Daughter is hot and got married to some captain of industry.
2) Prime Minister Stephen Harper got some ribbing for giving his young son a firm handshake rather than a hug on his first day of school. This played well into Mr. Harper's stodgy conservative persona but the smirking died down after a couple of days.
3) Aline Chretien slammed the door on an intruder at 24 Sussex drive. There was much hand wringing about the Prime Minister's security detail.
4) Jack Layton (the leader of the NDP) is married to Olivia Chow, who is also a member of Parliament in his party. There has been no hand wringing about their relationship that I can remember.
5) Trudeau got divorced and slept around. This got a lot of press at the time but isn't why he's remembered as one of our most controversial Prime Ministers.
So the snarky response to these non-stories is that we're too boring to have any real scandals. I suggest you look up the Airbus affair and Shawinigate.
The government here is about to call an election and I doubt anyone but a politico-junkie could name Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's wife. Is he even married? I have no idea and nobody's talking about it. We're talking about whether the conservative govenment will gain a majority and what the consequences will be. I can't claim a more engaged public up here but I can guaranteee that nobody cares a moose's nostril what Lynn Harper brings to the table. No media outlet will ever interview her or any of the leaders' spouses.
I think a politician's family can be fair game in a few circumstances:
1.) Nepotism scandal
2.) Kickback scandal
3.) Behaviour grossly (this is a key word here - we are none of us perfect) contradictory to a stated platform.
I think this last one allows for some scrutiny of Mrs. Palin's family predicament but in the end, it shouldn't be the sole story during the convention.
So why do you guys care so much?
I could ponder the influence of the Christian Right and their desire for "Family Values" standards or Jackie Kennedy worship or the entertainment value of a sanctimonious media, thirsty for content with an over-reliance on Punditry, or the fact that your election discussion has been dragging on for over two years now (ours will be over in 30 days)...
But I'm going to settle on the gut feeling that you guys are truly, truly desperate for better days.
I hope you get them.
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Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life
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