It has now come down
to the wire, with only one day to go there’s only one Question on everybody’s
lips, who will occupy the big seat for 2013-2017?, who will win the election up
north, will incumbent Barack Obama be given a second chance? Or will he be
upstaged by Mitt Romney?, having caught bits and pieces of the Campaign
from the Republican primaries all the
way up the debates, I must say this is still anyone’s game according to the
latest polls. Of course a recent experience here in Jamaica has taught me that
the polls cannot always be trusted. Some may not know this but the people of
the U.S. do not elect their president directly but rather indirectly and it may
very well be possible however unlikely for a candidate to win the popular vote
but still lose the election since votes are counted according to state not the
individual and no state is more crucial than the swing states, since they are
the ones that almost always determine the results.
Two things I must make
special note of are the nature of campaigning and the cost, preparations for an
election campaign begin as soon is the previous one is over, in other words it
is a never ending cycle that in itself seems quite ridiculous candidates launch
propaganda campaigns trying to make their opponents look bad oftentimes spinning
the truth in order to accomplish this
goal, this leaves the nation heavily divided and may cause persons to become bitter
if the candidate of their choice loses. Unlike a constitutional monarchy or
even but to a lesser extent a parliamentary republic, in the United States and
presidential systems, there is no separation between Head of State and Head of
Government what this means that there is no living symbol of loyalty for the
entire nation to rally around. “What about the post campaign healing process?” “What about having the elected president
trying to galvanize the whole nation to support him after he has been elected?”,
some might ask, here’s my answer, this is unlikely seeing that is I said before
Campaigning gets off the ground as soon as the last one ends that is precisely
why Americans pledge allegiance to their flag, unlike us in the Commonwealth
Realms who pledge our loyalty to a living being, our monarch, former Canadian
Prime Minister Sir John MacDonald best sums it up this way “By adhering to the monarchical principle we
avoid one defect inherent in the American Constitution. By the election
of the president by a majority and for a short period, he never is the
sovereign and chief of the nation. He is never looked up to by the whole people
as the head and front of the nation. He is at best but the successful leader of
a party. This defect is all the greater on account of the practice of
reelection.”
As everyone knows
campaigning cost are massive, and many of the times donation to a candidate or
a party are funded by private enterprises with billions of dollars being spent
every election for endorsements and campaign ads which often times end with the
words “I’m (name of candidate) and I approve this message", an election which
should have been about the people is taken over by corporate mongols, U.S.
based multinational corporations and the
wealthy business upper-class who have the most to gain from their candidate
being declared as victor.
In terms of who has
the better policies I had originally been in full support of Mitt Romney obviously because he was more conservative , but
after listening to the three debates I have come to different conclusion,
Romney in fact has only excellent domestic policies but as far as foreign
affairs is concerned the President still has the edge. Romney is a
total disaster when it comes to foreign policy I mean seriously, "Russia is
America’s number one geopolitical foe"? Where the hell did he get that from?, the last straw for me
was insulting the British at the Olympics, in my book that is almost
unforgivable as I consider myself a true anglophile. On the other hand I like
the stance that he takes on domestic issues such as civil rights, health care, education
taxation and how to get the American economy growing at a faster rate. The
President is completely the opposite his domestic policies have been the
downfall for the U.S. over the 4 years of his presidency leading to the
reduction their once proud AAA credit rating, and the fact that the U.S. is now
the largest debtor in the world, especially to China, one could not talk about
Obama’s domestic policy without mentioning Obama-Care, the highlight of the
President’s policy bitterly opposed by republicans, the very first thing that
Romney plans on repealing if elected. His foreign policy however includes more
inclusion and more idealism rather than typical Romney Style realism, whose
only aim is for the U.S. domination of all other nations, that kind of politics
is impractical in this day and age given the nature of the international system
which Romney has continuously demonstrated that he doesn’t fully understand.
Like I said before
this election is still anybody’s game, the United States and the world watches
with bated breath to see what the outcome will be on Tuesday night and who will
get the chance to lead America for the next four years until 2016 when the
process is done all over again
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