Stories for Feb. 8, 2008

The Democrats' secret weapon: Canadians

By Knute Berger

At the Barack Obama rally in Seattle on Feb. 8, there was an unexpected contingent that had infiltrated the excited crowd at Key Arena: our neighbors to the North. In the press section there was a guy from Victoria working on a radio feature for the CBC about the Obama campaign. He was sporting a "Canadians for Obama" t-shirt and I overheard him tell someone that many Canadians "don't give a damn who's running for prime minister," but they are watching the U.S. election with great interest. In fact, a recent poll indicated that one in six Canadians would give up their right to vote in the next election if they could sway the U.S. election result. Some are coming south to volunteer.

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Could the bust be a boon?

By Knute Berger

As the local real estate market sags and the economy slows, are there any bright sides to a recession? Cities built on over-consumption and real-estate speculation have their busts, but there could be good in it – like reclaiming a part of your soul. That's the take of Joel Lovell, in "The Upside of the Downside" in New York magazine.

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Obama, Missouri, and God

By Lisa Brunette

I wanted to find out what liberals of religious conviction think about Barack Obama's expression of faith, so I had to go outside Seattle. Not a single person I know here attends anything remotely like a house of worship, unless you count yoga studios, and since you have to pay to attend those, they shouldn't count. I contacted my friend Bridgett Wissinger, who is very active in her Catholic parish in urban St. Louis, Mo.

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