Edward Hutcheson
As we approach the 2012 Elections many of the candidates and incumbents may be of the opinion that they taking part in an exercise where the apparent winners will be given the mandate to lead the Bahamian people for the next five years. That is what most of them would like to think. The upcoming Election is more of an investigation into the psychological profile of the Bahamian voter almost forty years after Independence and more than forty years after 1967.
Whatever the results are in July or August of this year, one thing will be certain, politics as we have known it is about to change. It is the end of an era. Opposing forces are struggling to gain traction and there is an uneasiness in the air that the governing party and the opposition forces cannot quite put their finger on, but it is evident that the voters have the candidates where they want them, again. The rallies are getting bigger from week to week and the talk show hosts are talking out both sides of their mouth; ‘cause they have never seen it like this before. It must be bad when you have talk show hosts making the claim that the local radio media is being controlled. How many radio stations can we listen to?
What I am waiting for is almost like a parent anticipating their child’s report card, but it will be about the grading of perceived agendas and political policies as seen by that cross section of informed voters whose voting usually chooses which party is going to govern. The ultimate question being, “Which political party’s policies adequately reflects the views and aspirations of the Bahamian people?”
There are so many balances and counterbalances that play into this question, that there are times when the political agendas of political parties and the aspirations of the people they are seeking to lead have no basis for any kind of partnership. I am not speaking about the persons who very existence is tied to their blind allegiance to their political group. I am speaking about persons whose view of life goes beyond the caustic five year time-frame, where political allegiance is more about paying the bills and, doing whatever they have to do or saying whatever they have to say to friends or family.
This election will reveal some startling revelations about the Bahamian voter; it will be stuff that we have always known, but we will have to face the fact again that “these people” as they have often been referred to are not fools and they know exactly how they want their bread sliced and what side they want buttered. The Politicians, who have not done their homework will be taken for a ride, again, and the agencies that distribute those incontinence products will make a killing, but when the dust settles this time, all and sundry will know that “these people” take their politics and their country very seriously.
Should I mention that most of us knew who we would vote for this year, less than a year after the last election; and that is just the way it is. Some candidates have yet to learn that votes aren’t usually cast by what a person is looking at or told to look for, voters make their choices by what they remember, and they have been watching every one of you, elected, and seeking office.
March 28, 2012
