All in all, if you are a political junkie like me, it has been quite the interesting few weeks in the political world.

First, after what seems years, we are finally coming down to the short strokes in the 2008 United States presidential elections. Right from the start this has been a campaign like no other.

When it began, few insiders gave much hope that either of the two presidential candidates -- Barack Obama or John McCain -- would even be standing by the time the conventions rolled around at summer's end.

Even fewer would have predicted that the two vice-presidential running mates -- Joe Biden and a virtually unknown Sarah Palin -- would be squaring off.

And then to top it all off, after more than a year of daring the opposition to force an election, it appears Prime Minister Stephen Harper will go to the Governor General this weekend to ask her to dissolve Parliament, and Canadians will be voting for a new government on Oct. 14.

The only thing that seems certain at this point is that both elections in North America will be close, and voters are looking for leadership during times of economic anxiety, amid high job losses, soaring gas prices, depleted stock market savings and a sense that emerging countries, such as China and India, are on the verge of eating our lunch.

The contest in the U.S. is also historic because for the first time a major American party will be led by an African-American, a person born in poverty who is encouraging record numbers of disenfranchised Americans to become involved in the political process for the first time.

And then there is the "hockey mom."

In a speech this week, Palin, the Governor of Alaska and a virtual unknown political neophyte, rocked the Republican convention with a no-nonsense, common-sense speech about family values, traditional Republican ideals and, of course, an attack on the media.

It was a move right out of former president Richard Nixon's playbook, who, after his defeat as Governor of California, turned on the media and the elites in his so-called "last press conference" by telling the media, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore," then announcing he was leaving politics forever.

In Palin's case, she tried in one broad stroke to make the media the issue.

As historian Stephen Ambrose notes in his excellent three-part history of Richard Nixon, the tactic is not new.

"The story the reporters missed was that Nixon had just made the press the issue," Ambrose wrote in volume two of his Nixon study. "Nixon knew that the national press did not speak for or to millions of Republicans."

The so-called "silent majority," who would go on to elect Nixon president six years later, was born.

While it is too soon to say who might win in October or November, it is clear that, if you are interested in politics, this is the height of the season.

You can bet The Spectator will follow the stories nationally and internationally, and try to answer the question:

What does it all mean for us?

David Estok is The Spectator's editor-in-chief. editorfeedback@thespec.com