I found it interested because so little of it happened in Canada. But yes, I mistook it for real political involvement, but you're right, it's mostly banter. That said, I would say more Americans are at least aware of the political issue of the day, where in Canada many people just didn't care.

My other pet theory is that Canadians get more than enough politics from Canadian coverage of US politics (it's often 30%+ of news coverage) so they feel little urge to do the same with domestic politics.