Elections

Even though I have not had the time to follow super closely the political debates, I guess I can't pass the topic of the elections without making some comment, given that there are presidential elections going on in both of my countries, Finland and the U.S. It is interesting to compare and contrast, even though in US we are a bit behind and the big question now is which republican candidate will run against Obama. In Finland the elections were already held, and the big surprise was that the election went to second round (at least it was a surprise to me), and that the candidate against the more traditional type of presidential candidate (lawyer by training, served as Finland's finance minister) is a gay man and a green party candidate (who happens to have an amazing background working as a negotiator in international crisis areas, such as Sudan and Somalia).

Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/finland-presidential-race-pekka-haavisto_n_1223477.html 

I wonder how long it will take in America to have a woman as a President, or to nominate an openly gay man? Finland has had a woman President for 12 years, and now a very popular gay candidate. I am very proud to be Finnish.

I also wonder what would have happened if Hillary Clinton would have become the President of this country instead of Obama.. I was always for Hillary and think she is an amazing woman and a wonderful role model. I just hope this country can get through this year's elections without getting even more polarized and without widening the gap between the social classes, ethnic backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, races, women's right to choose, those who have health care and those who have not, etc.

Having watched last night's CNN Republican Candidates Debate, I am not so sure that it's possible.