: When I travel out of the U.S., normally on dive vacations, which draw a
: particular demographic of people from all over the world, I find that
: quite often the people from other countries seem to care more about and
: know more about our candidates than most Americans do. So, based on my
: limited travel experience, I'm not all that surprised!

: Mike

Hi Mike,
A lot of non-Americans are more politically aware than Americans, on the casual everyday basis. Having no say in who gets elected gives a less involved persective. Of course, a lot of them prefer Democrats to Republicans, different foreign policies.
The interest comes from the "splash effect" of a large political/economic unit, recent stock exchange wobbles show that. It's kind of like keeping an eye on the trailer truck that's using the lane beside you, specially the driver.

Europeans in particular tend to be closer to politicians, as in we meet them "on the street" more often, in Ireland you're almost trippng over them.
In the States, how often do you meet a politician by happenstance? Probably more often if they were made to use kayaks.
Better still, have building a kayak a requirement of standing for election.

This side up. Read the instructions carefully.
Mike Savage
South West Cork