The U.S. ambassador to Canada called the relationship between the two countries the strongest in the world at a speech at Carleton on Oct. 1.
David Jacobson was speaking about the effects of the U.S. presidential election on Canada. His speech primarily focused on the changes that could occur depending on the outcome of the election happening this November.
Jacobson said the biggest factor in the election is the economy, and the best thing the U.S. can do for Canada is to get it back on track.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is focused on cutting the deficit and reducing taxes, whereas current president Barack Obama is focused on education and industry, Jacobson said.
“Any impact that our election is going to have on Canada is probably going to have a bigger impact on not just students, but on young people,” Jacobson said.
“All of these issues, the strength of the economy, the ability to get good jobs when you leave university, the ability to have a strong economy, a secure North America, a safe world to live in. These are issues that are probably more important to young people than anyone.”
One of the issues faced in this election is getting the youth population to vote.
“One of the things that is a problem is young people historically, other than last time, tend not to vote all that much,” Jacobson said.
With five weeks left until the election, Jacobson said the biggest factor that will help determine how people vote will be debates between the candidates.
While it is quite clear in most states what the outcome will be, there are 11 states that will be the primary deciding factors in election, including New Hampshire, Ohio, California, and New York.
Jacobson said it is important for candidates to have a consistent message throughout their campaign.
“[I]n Ohio there are a lot of people to work in and around the auto industry so the president talks a lot about the auto industry. In Virginia there are an awful lot of people who work in the military so Gov. Romney has talked a lot in Virginia about the military,” Jacobson said.
“One of the things you learn when you run for president is that what you say in Virginia, they can hear in Ohio,” he said. “[T]here’s one set of national media and you can’t say something in one place and assume that ‘well they won’t know what I say there.’ You have to have a consistent message.”
With the ability for people to film things with mobile devices Jacobson said that there has to be an assumption that there is no such thing as secrets or off the record talks, especially for public figures.
The election will take place on Nov. 6 and the winning candidate candidate will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2013.
