Like many people around the world, Anguillians followed the United States presidential campaign and election with much interest and enthusiasm. What is perhaps even more noteworthy is that a number of persons, holding dual citizenship in Anguilla,and in America, where they have voting rights, travelled there to vote; and they openly said they were going to vote for President Obama.
Their voting for him was not only a drop in the bucket compared with the millions of ballots from voters throughout the United States, but it contributed nevertheless, in a small way, to the President’s stunning re-election. Obama’s victory in most of the swing states,and his lead in the overall national race, is seen as major accomplishments for an African American who, despite a weak economy, high levels of unemployment and other adverse critical issues, was able to win a second term in the White House. His is now the Herculean task of re-uniting America across the sharply-divided political landscape and of working on substantially improving the economy and jobs situation.
In small island states, like Anguilla, there is a considerable amount of hope that the US economy will quickly rebound. The main reason is that when this happens Anguilla, which relies heavily on the buoyancy of the US economy, can benefit directly or indirectly from investment and tourism opportunities.
Observers are of the view that there are a number of lessons to be learnt from the US presidential campaign, the election and the outcome of the polling. Among those lessons are that the people, as the electorate, must be convinced that they can trust their politicians – that they “mean what they say and say what they mean;” that they respect the people’s best interests; that they take a middle ground position on sensitive matters rather than venturing to the extreme and thereby, perhaps, causing offense, fear or otherwise discomfort; and that,despite the economic and other difficulties affecting the country,the people would be tolerant if they are convinced that those offering themselves for election would provide good leadership and work assiduously to fulfil their campaign promises.
Another lesson to be learnt is the statesmanship displayed by a defeated Governor Romney and a victorious President Obama when the results of the election became known. Their statements showed a high level of political maturity not commonly seen among politicians in an island like Anguilla where animosity, acrimony and a lack of cooperation and unity linger on long after an election.
Romney said in part: “I just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory. His supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. I wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters.
“This is a time of great challenge for America, and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.”
President Obama said among other matters: “I just spoke to Governor Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Romney on a hard-fought campaign. We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future.
“I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move the country forward.”
A lesson to be learnt is that despite the heat and intensity of the campaign, the behaviour of the people across the United States remained very peaceful and respectful, something not seen in other parts of the world at election time. A further lesson is the admirable work of the television networks in their impartial and comprehensive coverage and analysis of campaign and election issues. One other lesson is the high level prediction and accuracy of the polls, conducted by a number of pollsters, regarding how the presidential candidates were faring in the race to the White House and the eventual outcome of the election.
With the US election now a matter of history, the hope is that life will return to normal across America; that the economy will rebound; that more jobs will be created; and that in time Anguilla will reap some direct or indirect benefits for its own struggling economy.
