| By Leonard GildarieI have never professed to be an expert at anything. However, that has never stopped me from being aggressively competitive. I passionately fight to do the best I can.Many times I have stood alone for what appeared to be a losing battle but I persevered, sometimes foolishly. I have learnt some valuable lessons. Never keep things bottled up. It will eat away at your peace.I have found also that you don’t have to be a politician or professor to let your voice be heard as a citizen. We all have a powerful role to play in this country. For our own existence, we have to make every day count. Let us not leave it to the neighbours.This past week, after months of wrangling and bitterness that divided the US, the world watched on Tuesday night as the election results came in.A man who had little experience in politics, and who rocked the boat saying all the seemingly wrong things,Cristian Pavon Jersey, overturned America and the world.While he did not receive more votes than the Democratic party’s candidate Hillary Clinton, billionaire Donald Trump appeared to have said all the right things and done enough to capture the electoral votes to secure the presidency, and his party, control of Congress and the Senate. He overcame the snide remarks of his hairstyle and the thousands of cartoons that poked fun at him, in an attempt to discredit him.Even his crude comments about women; about building a border wall to keep Mexicans out of the US and his controversial foreign policy stances were not enough to dent what the vast populace was feeling – it was time for change. The wind was blowing.It was time to rid the shackles of Washington insiders who were just mouthing a better life for Americans and who were benefitting.Americans felt that Hillary was returning the ‘same ole government’ that offered no real solutions to big issues like medical health care and pension,Benson Mayowa Jersey, wages, foreign policy, the economy and taxes.I watched CNN and saw the shock on the presenters’ faces as they refused and held out that the unfolding results just could not be happening.Clinton lost control of states that traditionally belonged to her party. The finger-pointing was immediate. It was blamed on a “hostile press corps”. It was blamed on the FBI’s eleventh hour decision of re-opening a probe into Clinton’s controversial use of private emails to talk state business. People became distrustful.Clinton’s camp did not envision losing. It appeared, too, that Trump’s team was ill-prepared to deal with winning, and from all indications was in disarray to deal with the transition to White House,Atlanta Hawks Jerseys UK, the seat of power for the President of the US.The blame fell on Clinton’s campaign team for failing to check in with the states that were considered strongholds to the Democrats.In a nutshell, it was admitted that the unhappy, working class citizens were ignored in the campaign to White House.It is now all history…on January 20,Blank Jersey, Donald Trump will take the reins of power and in essence, be given access to the nuclear codes that could unleash the weapons of mass destruction on any nation if the need arises.So what went wrong for the Democrats?We will have to examine how the US does things. The country votes on issues.As I mentioned before, issues like health care; spending on wars; crime; education; taxes; foreign debt; immigration and gun control have all been hot topics that Americans have been paying keen attention to.When Bill Clinton ended his two terms back in 2001, the US was sitting pretty with the economy on track. Never mind the Monica Lewinsky affair. Bill was cleared of the accusations, but the voters were fed up. They immediately voted in the Republican’s George W. Bush and the Middle East has never been the same since.The US, alarmed at the World Market crisis in 2008,Nike Air Max 1 Italia, kicked the Republicans out in 2009 and the first black President, Barack Obama, was sworn in.Obama was given the nod for a second term. His time in office was clearly not good enough for America to send in Hillary Clinton and see the Democrats in power for a third consecutive term.It is clear from the above that the US is inflexible when it comes to giving chances to the Democrats and the Republicans. You mess up and out you go.In other words, voting on issues is what the US is all about.The US elections should be a clear lesson to all of us in Guyana. The most powerful person in the country,LeBron James Jersey, it appears, is not the President, the ministers or Parliament or the Chancellor.It is the people.Last year, Guyana voted in a coalition Government, giving a narrow defeat to the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic. The PPP/C had been in continuous power for 23 years.One cannot but think that the US elections this past week in so much ways mirrored what happened in Guyana last year.Many PPP/C supporters remained shocked at the outcome. For a handful, the signs were on the wall. Many of the ministers were seen as too arrogant and impatient with supporters who came to see them. The grassroots connections for the PPP/C were badly organized. People distrusted them because of abuse of power and corruption. Communities were left unattended. The trucking of supporters to state events did little to fool a populace that was hungry for different leaders.This Coalition Government in place is facing a tough battle. It has campaigned on promises of reforms. It is facing a media that is watching their every move.We are entering the second year of the administration and crime, jobs and the economy have risen to be big issues. The administration has to engage the people. Ministers have to be more open. The government has to address the top issues that arise and put its public relations arm to work. We can no longer depend on press releases to sway citizens.Someone has to stand up and talk about the issues.The region is not getting easier. Look at Venezuela, Suriname, Trinidad and Brazil. They are all our neighbours and trading partners. The hardships are stepping in.So yes, the recent elections in the US have some valuable lessons to us as a developing nation. |
