The Democrats' secret weapon: Canadians

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.

I ran into an Obama volunteer from Canada (he wouldn't give his name) who said he'd been helping Obama in Iowa and was now lending a hand in Snohomish County. He said there were more than 20 Canadian volunteers at the rally. And is isn't only Obama that Canadians favor. Another poll indicated that 62 percent of Canadians favor the Democrats and only 17 percent the Republicans. Forty-two percent prefer Hillary Clinton while 34 percent liked Obama.

The fact that there are so many Democrat-loving Canadians just across the border could be a boost for the Democrats in 2008. No wonder the GOP wants to secure the borders.

Our Canadian cousins can't vote, of course, but they can lick envelopes and help get out the vote, eh?

• Knute Berger is Mossback, Crosscut's chief Northwest native. He also writes the monthly Gray Matters column for Seattle magazine and is a weekly Friday guest on Weekday on KUOW-FM (94.9). You can e-mail him at mossback@crosscut.com.