WOW...:

Will an Opposition Victory Rescue Japan's Economy? (Michael Schuman, 8/27/09, TIME)

The central theme marking this weekend's general election in Japan is much like the one that dominated the American presidential contest of a year ago — "change." Yukio Hatoyama, president of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is striving to paint his party as the party of "change" on the campaign trail, much like U.S. President Barack Obama positioned his Democrats. And if the election goes as expected — the DPJ commands a comfortable lead in polls over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — "change" is exactly what Japanese voters will want. The LDP has governed Japan almost uninterrupted since 1955, but the nation's endemic malaise seems to have pushed an often politically complacent public to finally boot them out of power.

The election, if it turns out as expected, could prove a seminal moment in Japan's modern political history and bring about a dramatic transformation in the country's politics and government. Yet on the most pressing area of policy — the struggling Japanese economy — voters may not get the change they so desperately desire, and badly need.

...so it'll be exactly like electing the UR.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 27, 2009 12:02 AM