Campbell's Commentary - YOUR VOTE MATTERS. HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE..!

 By Aubrey Campbell

 

Kamala Harris

NEW YORK, NY. Tuesday, August 18, 2020 – Hello folks and welcome to the summer of your discontent. Certainly not the way you planned it. Discontent because, for the next three months and well into the Fall, you will be locked in election mode, on top of the Winter, on top of the Flu season and on top of a pandemic that is going nowhere, fast!

Brace yourself!

Interesting times ahead if you are a Jamaica or an Indian, living in these United States.

History is on your side. Well, maybe!

The coronavirus pandemic is turning out to be a blessing in disguise. Forced to be home and indoors more than usual, people are paying more attention to their lives and livelihood, as the year draws to a close with serious conditionalities on the line.

There is the US Presidential elections that are shaping up to be the ‘mother of all presidential elections’. And then, there is the US 2020 Census Count, which is really about the next 10 years!

In the run up to Super Tuesday (November 3), something happened along the way that will re-draw and re-shape the socio-political landscape of these United States.

The coming together of two minority forces, a half a century ago and the resulting political tsunami of last week, the kind that is expected and will be felt around the world, well past November 3!

It has to be a divine script that within days of Jamaica (August 6), and India (August 15), celebrating their anniversaries of nationhood, that someone, an American, black, beautiful, brilliant and a female, would be selected to run for office, and not just any office but one of the most coveted offices, globally, the office of vice president of the United States of America.

Not because she is Jamaican/Indian, not because she is a woman and certainly not because she is black, but Kamala Harris is deserving of the pick by the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Joe Biden.

It might have been a difficult decision considering the extenuating socio-political circumstances at this time, but Ms. Harris laid it bare for all to see, pre-pandemic, that there is more, much more to her natural beauty than what meets the eye.

She is meticulous, methodical and strong, not nasty, as those with a limited vocabulary would have you believe!

Read my lips!

What her selection solidifies, if nothing else, is the fact that these already great United States were built on the backs and with the blood sweat and tears of foreigners, to this day!

And these United States deserve better than the level of leadership that Donald Trump is displaying as the occupant of the White House. It is now up to the rest of America to realize that fact and do what is in their powers to correct the matter before it’s too late!

By the end of the week, we will have a better understanding of why it is that you and I will need to do to restore lustre to Brand America!

It’s not going to be easy and neither is it impossible. However, the forces of evil are already at work because The Donald, the Commander in Cheat, wants a second term, by any means necessary!

Concerning matters back home, I was overly disappointed to learn that no sooner had the new political party, the Jamaica Progressive Party – JPP – announced their plans to make Jamaica Great Again (JAGA), and a most ambitious plan at that, that the party will not be contesting the election.

As it stands now and barring any unforeseen on Nomination Day, Tuesday, August 18, it will be the same two major political parties going at it, to see which one gets to keep the cookie jar for another five years!

During conversation on Sunday, Journalist and political commentator Michael Roberts said that Andrew Holness did well to call the elections at this time and given what happened in Port of Spain, last Monday (August 10), he expects the COVID 19 pandemic to play a significant role in the outcome.

Lester Hinds, on the other hand, thinks it will be a close race to the finish with the Opposition party adopting a somewhat novel ‘seat by seat’ approach to a campaign season impacted by the pandemic.

It will be most interesting to see how the two major parties adjust their campaigning to fit into the confines of the Covid 19 protocols. It worked for the incumbent PNM and that’s why Kamla and her UNC candidates are asking for recounts in at least four constituencies, results that could overturn the initial 22 -19 count!

September 3, is just weeks away. Stay tuned!

--00—

Editor’s note. Aubrey Campbell is producer/host of Caribbean Conversation, airing Sundays, 2-4 pm, on WVIP, 93.5 FM and streaming on the Wee Radio Network at, www.weeradioonline.com and on the Caribzone Network at. www.caribzone.com.