In Praise of Corny Canadian Politicians

Yesterday, I was on Canada's CBC Radio's "The Current." Today, I'm at #132 on amazon.ca. In part, I gave my standard spiel about irrational voters. But they also gave me a chance to make an original point.

In the podcast, the host plays a corny Canadian commercial where some politician rambles on about his love for his children. Syrupy music plays in the background. Then they ask for my reaction. I think I surprised them, because I said that corny ads are, comparatively speaking, a good thing. It's a lot better for the world if politicians compete for "World's Best Dad" than if they compete for "World's Fiercest Protectionist" or "World's Biggest Scourge of Big Oil." As long as the median voter wants bad policies, politicians do the world a favor when they avoid the subject of policy altogether.