According to legislation introduced in 1997, election campaigns must be at least 36 days long, but this minimum has become standard after being put into place.

The 2006 campaign was almost eight weeks long, the longest in almost two decades. This was to provide campaign breaks during Christmas and New Year holidays.

Historically, the length of campaigns has varied. The campaign leading up the general election on Sept. 24, 1926 was 74 days, but the campaign before Canada's first election on Jan. 22, 1874 was only 20 days long. Many campaigns before 1997 lasted more than 60 days.

Campaigns leading up to the 2008 presidential election have been particularly lengthy, almost two years long, with presidential candidates announced as early as 2006.

American presidential campaigns were historically much shorter. John F. Kennedy, for instance, announced his candidacy in January, 1960, a mere 10 months before the election.

The increased length of the 2008 campaigns is perhaps due to the fact that neither major candidate is an incumbent president or vice president – the first time that's happened in 46 years. Improved fundraising methods may also play a factor, as they make it possible for candidates to afford longer campaigns. There are no legal limits on when a campaign can start.

The Elections Act strictly limits party spending, spurring party leaders to keep campaigns as brief as possible. Individuals can contribute a maximum of $5,000 a year to a registered party and candidate, while companies can contribute a maximum of $1,000.

Elections Canada spent $277.8 million on the 2004 general election. The agency bore the cost of the electoral process, pre-election activity, and re-imbursements to parties and candidates.

This time around, Stephen Harper's election call cancelled four by-elections which were set for September. According to Elections Canada, a federal by-election costs an average of 892,000 per riding. That means taxpayers will pay $3.5 million for the cancelled by-elections, since spending tallies are restarted once a general election is called.

The total amount that a party can spend on an election campaign is based on the number of ridings they contest and the number of voters in those ridings.

The major parties had an $18.3-million spending limit for the 2006 election. Individual candidates averaged about $80,000 each, but varied since they were based on the number of voters in each constituency.

The Conservative party launched large-scale radio and television ads in 2006, which led to a Federal Court battle with Elections Canada, and an investigation into Conservative advertising expenses.

Lobby groups are also limited in how much they spend on advertising during election campaigns, in order to prevent wealthier lobbyists from dominating campaigns. In 2004, they were limited to $150,000 nationally and $3,000 per riding.

Campaign spending has continued to increase over the last several election cycles. As of August 2008, the candidates had spent $834 million in total – more than double the last presidential campaign – with two months still to go.

Barack Obama spent more than $267 million to win the Democratic Party nomination, plus $71.6 million in cash on hand. Hillary Clinton spent more than $233 million before dropping out.

John McCain spent almost $110 million to win the Republican candidacy, with $35.5 million in cash on hand. Mitt Romney spent $107 million, with $35.4 million coming from his own pocket.

The Democratic Party raised more than $416 million and spent just under $300 million by the end of July. The Republican Party raised $457 million by the end of July, almost 10 per cent more than the Democrats. They had spent $337 million.

Barack Obama is the first major party candidate to opt out of the public financing system for presidential campaigns. He announced in June that he would not participate in the system, which puts limits on campaign spending.

Under the public financing system, a candidate would be given $84.1 million from the Treasury this year to finance a campaign, but is not allowed to accept private donations, or spend more than that amount. McCain still raises funds in conjunction with the Republican National Committee and several state parties. This allows donors to contribute more than the $2,300 limit that they can give to a presidential campaign alone.

According to some political observers, campaign spending could top $3 billion dollars this election.

With the candidates in the American election poised to make history no matter who comes out on top, many Canadians are more interested in the American election than the one going on at home.

In the Canadian election, each leader is already known to the public, having led their parties through the most recent session of Parliament. By contrast, the 2008 American election will be the first since 1928 with no incumbent candidate. Barack Obama could become the first black president in U.S. history, while Sarah Palin is the youngest woman ever on the ticket.

While launching the Green party campaign in Guelph,Ont., leader Elizabeth May acknowledged the apathy of many Canadians. She pleaded with Canadians to pay attention to the campaign in their own country rather than the one south of the border.

May waged a high-profile battle to be included in the upcoming televised leader debates, and won – possibly the biggest story during the early days of the campaign.

Although elections in Canada are not the media frenzy that they are in the U.S., parties still recognize the value of being media-savvy. The Conservatives have set up a state-of-the-art media facility in Ottawa designed to allow spokesmen such as Alberta MP Jason Kenney to do TV interviews with television networks across the country. Kenney will be able to appear on breakfast-hour shows in every time zone across the country before beginning lunch-hour broadcasts without leaving his seat.

Another interesting media tactic was the NDP's decision to attach their names to all of their political rivals on Google via search ads. Anytime a Google user types in the name "Stephen Harper," or names of leaders from any other party, they will get results accompanied by an NDP ad. On September 8, typing in the name "Stephane Dion" brought up a link entitled "Do you trust Harper?" which took users directly to Jack Layton's website.

The Democratic and Republican conventions of 2008 were television smash hits, generating some of the largest prime-time audiences of the year.

Barack Obama's convention speech was given to 84,000 spectators at Denver's packed-to-capacity Invesco football stadium. More than 38 million viewers tuned in on networks such as ABC (6.6 million viewers) and CNN (8 million viewers). The addition of PBS and C-SPAN takes the tally to over 40 million. The viewership was one of the biggest this year, topping the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the Oscars, and the final show of the hit series American Idol.

Sarah Palin's speech on September 3 at the Republican convention was viewed by 37.2 million people on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC and 4 million on PBS. She beat out her counterpart on the Democratic side Joe Biden, who attracted 24 million viewers.

Palin was a previously-unknown Alaska senator before her acceptance speech at the Republican convention at the packed Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The speech was an important one for Palin, who was reeling from the revelation in the press that her unwed 17-year-old daughter was pregnant. But she gave a charismatic performance that garnered cheers and applause from delegates, cementing her status as a media-savvy candidate to watch out for.

The biggest winner, however, was John McCain, who edged out Obama in viewership by attracting 38.9 million viewers during prime time on networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News.

U.S. presidential races are star-studded affairs, with some of the world's biggest celebrities coming forward to offer their support. Barack Obama's high-profile supporters include Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey sat teary-eyed in the VIP area of the crowd during Obama's speech, just one of the stars who appeared at the convention to offer their support. Stars such as Spike Lee, Kanye West, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Stephen Spielberg, Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Lopez also attended. The convention featured musical performances from Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder.

Although the Republican convention had significantly less star power, there were still some high-profile appearances. Jon Voight, Stephen Baldwin, Kelsey Grammar and Pat Boone all appeared at the convention in St. Paul to show their support for McCain.