As I can't vote here in the US my interest in the election is pretty much the same as from before I got here.... scared that the folks who ignored history and repeated their mistakes will do exactly the same thing again.

Luckily there is something that allows me to keep up to date with a fairly neutral view of the candidates, what they stand for and what they are saying (often totally unrelated to what they actually mean... but politics is the art of the possible after all) - MSNs Podium '08 coverage.

Combining the resources of MSNs news team with Live search, and presenting it via a Silverlight interface it actually presents an overview of the contenders in a way I can quickly understand and evaluate.

I don't know if providing tools to educate and inform voters will ever have a significant effect in this age of media driven campaigning and short term memory... but if voters at least have the tools to help them think before they tick the box then there's hope....