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Motodop Moment

Nov 2nd, 2008 by Jinja

Catching a ride with a moto-taxi today (motodop) I found myself subjected to a few questions. Usually it’s “How old are you”, “What do you do”, “Do you want a Cambodian wife”, “How much money do you make”, “What country are you from”.

After establishing I was from the USA, he immediately asked about ‘boh chnout‘ – if I’d voted. Fascinating to see even motodops are interested in the Stateside election. This one noted with pride he voted in the last Cambodian election.

I replied yes, I’d voted - and I told him many of my friends were voting, for Obama, McCain, and third party candidates.

He asked about the different parties and I told him that despite the two large parties, small parties have an influence. What if the Greens hadn’t run in 2000? Or there had been less third party voting in 2004? Would Kerry or Gore have won? Heck, it may be possible that the most influential person in recent American politics is … Ralph Nader. (This was a little tricky to sum up in Khmer.)

Naturally, as I paid for my ride, the driver asked who I voted for. I’ll let you figure it out.