Studying abroad allows you to draw some interesting parallels between the country you’re in and what is going on back home.

Spain held its national elections this last Sunday, after a short yet interesting campaign season. The campaign featured current president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, of the left-wing PSOE party, against Mariano Rajoy, the opposition leader of the PP, or right-wing party. Unlike the United States, there is no primary election here. The leader of the opposition party is the candidate that runs against the incumbent.

Spain suffered for years in the middle of the 20th century without democracy, living under a dictator following its civil war. You can tell how much pride people here have in the fact that they have a liberal democratic system. The idea of being able to choose representation and have a stake in government is something of which the citizenry is proud.

The campaign season in Spain only lasted from early February to March 9, which was Election Day. During this time, each party set up campaign tents, plastered posters on any and every wall and drove campaign buses through the city with speakers that proclaimed the message of their candidate. During the election season here, all of the public advertising space is taken up by campaign signs and slogans.

The most interesting events during the campaign season were the debates. In the United States, we are accustomed to seeing the candidates in many debates ranging from the early primaries and continuing up to the general presidential election in November. The two debates held in Spain were the first major debates between presidential candidates in 15 years. The debates were televised on three of the national Spanish channels and pulled in a record number of viewers.

The format of the debate featured each candidate with a “theme” to discuss with the other candidate. The major themes included in the debate were: dealing with terrorism and security, growing social spending, worries about the economy and enhancing foreign relations. Any of those sound familiar? The next day in the various newspapers, each writer had a chance to handicap what happened and who emerged the debate’s winner. None of the writers were in agreement about who actually won.

Ultimately, the election went to Zapatero, whose progressive agenda has played well in Spain, especially with younger voters. His platform for the presidency includes more of a focus on social politics, emphasizing his plan to raise the pension fund for the elderly and his immigration plan to help those who want to migrate to Spain (especially from north Africa).

One thing that was apparent during the election season in Spain is just how long our own election season has become. The ups and downs of our election season take place over the course of years, not weeks. There are several interesting factors driving this phenomenon. One of the main factors is the public’s intense interest off which the media continues to feed. Ever since the first candidates formed exploratory committees in late 2006, the American public has been extremely interested to see how this presidential election season will eventually turn out in November 2008.

Ever since these exploratory committees were formed, political pundits have attempted to predict how the election will finally go down. Many foresaw Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., running away with the Democratic nomination with no competition from her then-closest competitor, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and the relatively unknown, first-term senator Barack Obama, D-Ill. The pundits had it wrong on the Republican side as well, predicting Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y., to claim the nomination, leaving Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as an unpopular also-ran. And no political commentator could have predicted the unprecedented success of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.

With all that has happened so far in this election season, it is hard to believe there are still eight months remaining until Americans cast their votes for who they want to be the 44th president of this country. Many who work in the media or are political commentators have forecast that the public will eventually lose most of their interest in the presidential election until late October comes around. Yet if this election has proven anything it’s that it is unlike any other in this nation’s history.

*Eric Schultz is currently studying abroad in Spain.