Breezeblog

The waiting is almost over – how will Bermuda vote tomorrow?Most people I’ve spoken to – not a scientific study by any means but includes a mix of black, white, PLP and UBP – agree on one thing: it will be closer than 2003. I agree, although I can’t quite see the UBP pulling off what would be a major upset.
In fact it’s hard to see the UBP being elected in the forseeable future without a black leader, as competent as Michael Dunkley or any other leader might be.The key remains what the black, professional middle class decides to do. My sense is that many of them are angry/embarrassed/fed up with Dr. Brown. But will they vote against him? Will they still vote PLP and hope Paula Cox can stage a coup? Or will they simply not vote at all rather than vote UBP?My guess is a significant number will either not vote or switch back to UBP. However I don’t believe it will be enough to tip the balance.  My prediction: 20-16 PLP, maybe even as close as 19-17.
What’s your election prediction?  

Some words of wisdom from the Sun’s columnists today as we countdown towards the Day of Reckoning. Let’s hope most voters (of which I, as a humble PRC, am not one) chew these over before they go to the polls and let’s have some sanity restored:

“Just what are we in for after the election is over?” asks Stuart Hayward. “Is civility to be abandoned in the interest of scoring political points, no matter the damage that barbaric language and symbolism might have on our children and our community in general? Are we to have racial tensions further exploited from finger-pointing and hints of vengeance under the guise of “conversation”? Are threats and payback to be the way power is wielded? … Violence and vengeance, whether in words, deeds or spirit, are not what Bermuda is about.”  

Tom Vesey: “Our only choice next Tuesday is between the UBP and the PLP as we currently find them – not as they once were, and not as we wish they would be.”

Larry Burchall:“In this election, despite strong efforts to paint black majority Bermudians as victims in their own society, despite strenuous efforts to conjure up new ‘boogeymen’, most intelligent people know that ‘boogeymen’ are not real … This election will likely see Bermuda’s “middle ground thinking Voter” flex their ‘X’. In this tenth universal suffrage election, I hope the MGT Voter wins.”

I don’t think the language used by Ms Foggo and others helps anybody – it insults the intelligence of the voter and does not make the PLP attractive to the white voters it says it wants to encourage. I really feel race relations have taken several backward steps during this campaign. Whether you agree with some of the initiatives taken by the Brown government or not, I think through Rolf Commissiong’s committee and bringing in race relations expert Tim Wise, they have at least tried to engage whites in a debate about race that remains very important to many black Bermudians. I fear the vitriolic rhetoric that we’ve heard in this campaign has undone a lot of that work and has served only to confirm existing prejudices. We need conciliation, not confrontation.