why...

why can't our presidential candidates buy votes as blatantly as those in Ecuador? apparently, the conservative billionaire candidate, Alvaro Noboa, passed out money, wheelchairs, medicine, and computers to potential constituents over the past three months before Sunday's runoff vote, against leftist candidate, Rafael Correa (who will probably be declared winner in the next couple days). of course, Noboa is just a shyster politician who really should be a television evangelist...

(from sunday's SF Gate): Before voting earlier Sunday in the coastal city of Guayaquil, Noboa read a passage from the Bible in the midst of a mob of supporters pushing to touch him. He then fell to his knees, asking God for his support and saying all he wanted was "to serve, to serve, to serve" the poor.

"Like Christ, all I want is to serve ... so that the poor can have housing, health care, education, jobs," he said.

oh puh-leeze.

good luck to Correa though. this man, who has a PhD in economics from the university of illinois, will have a tough road ahead; Ecuador has had eight presidents in the past decade. man...they must eat 'em for breakfast.