CarnalNation

As I type this, it's about 4:30 AM in Australia, just a few hours before the national elections start up. The bulk of the national and international attention on the elections has been on the neck-and-neck race between incumbent Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her challenger, Tony Abbott. Some say that race has already been settled by Dirty Harry, a supposedly psychic crocodile. But there are far more interesting things going on in the Australian Election than Gillard, Abbott, or Harry. This is the first national election since the Australian Sex Party was approved by the electoral commission last year. Below, you can see the ASP's "JerkChoices" commercial, which has the charming honesty that's only possible when you know you don't have a chance in hell of winning. Nevertheless, the agenda that they present in the ad is forthright and sensible, advocating for such things as same-sex marriage, anti-censorship and the right to "express your sexuality however you choose, with whomever you choose—even if you choose yourself."

While the ad may lean towards the playful, and even silly side, ASP Senate candidate Fiona Patten actually comes off as quite serious and intelligent in this talk-show debate with a conservative "family values" candidate.