Smooth transition of power assured - DEMAND AND SUPPLY by Boo Chanco

Whoever wins in tomorrow’s US presidential election, a smooth transition of power is assured. It had been a dream of a campaign, with both candidates clearly expressing their vastly differing stands on some of the major domestic issues. But on foreign policy matters, it seems that it won’t matter much who wins. Their definition of American interests hardly differs on major points. Or put another way, any difference would not matter when a crisis happens.

The over 200-year old American democracy functions primarily because of the large middle class, something we lack. Once upon a time, machine politics that look so much like Philippine style politics determined political contests. As recent as the Kennedy years, the Daley machine in Chicago might have spelled the difference between victory or defeat for America’s first Roman Catholic president. Now, they must be so fed up with politics, less than half of qualified votes cast their votes.

One wonders now, what will spell the difference in this year’s contest that is being so tightly fought, no opinion poll is willing to predict with certainty who is likely to win. Poll results thus far are within statistical margins of error, meaning the election results could still go either way. The difference will be made by the so called "undecided voters". This is why the major parties are in a feverish campaign to make their traditional constituencies to go out and vote.

The maturity of the American voters notwithstanding, I am afraid they are about to make the "Erap mistake." There is no doubt that Vice President Al Gore is the candidate who is best prepared to assume the awesome responsibilities of the presidency. But the charming Texas Governor George W. Bush seem to make the voters more at ease with him and therefore more ready to gamble with him despite his obvious inexperience.

I share the observation of the New York Times that the resume of Bush "is too thin for the nation to bet on his growing into the kind of leader he claims already to be." Since the US is now the world’s only superpower, we in the rest of the world will be more at ease with a US president who has a better grasp of foreign policy. As the Times observed, Bush "exposed an uneasiness with foreign policy that cannot be erased by his promise to have heavyweight advisers."

Our own experience in the Philippines shows that having a battery of competent advisers to help a charming but inept President run the affairs of state simply does not work. More so for America, because as the Times puts it, the job description is for commander in chief, not advisee in chief. At the end of the day, the presidency is not just a symbolic job like that of the Queen of England, but more like a Chief Executive Officer of a giant corporation who is able to think in terms of strategic concepts as well as the ability to run a vast bureaucracy.

In fact, even the management of America’s domestic policies has a vast impact on all our lives. Dominant as the American economy is in today’s world, we need an American president who is able to create a policy environment that is conducive to economic growth. Any mistake in this area impacts adversely on all of us. After all, if the American economy catches a cold, we end up in the ICU with pneumonia.

Thus, we look forward to having an American president who can preside over another prolonged era of economic prosperity. Outgoing President Clinton may or may not have the right to claim responsibility over the current era of prosperity but whatever it is he did or did not do seems to have done wonders.

It seems that Al Gore, based on what he has said during the campaign, seems more likely to be able to follow through. The plan of Mr. Bush to spend more than half the $2.2 trillion non-Social Security surplus on a tax cut at a time when the economy does not need that stimulus seems too risky, as the Times puts it. It is also terribly socially equitable if it is true that as Mr. Gore says, the Texas Governor plans to give that bonanza, or over 40 percent of the money to the wealthiest one percent of taxpayers.

As democracies and exercises of democratic rights go, tomorrow’s US presidential election will be a test of the maturity of voters, more specifically, their ability to select the best prepared candidate for the job. The observations of the New York Times, which I am quoting below, are also so relevant to our case. In a sense, we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves for having made the mistake in selecting whom we elected in 1998. This is how the Times saw it.

"Most citizens know that Mr. Gore wins any comparison with Mr. Bush on experience and knowledge. Yet many voters seem more comfortable with Mr. Bush’s personality and are tempted to gamble on him. We do not dismiss this desire for someone who they feel does not talk down to them and would come to the White House free of any connection to Mr. Clinton’s excesses... Mr. Gore does have a tendency to be patronizing and to exaggerate. But he has a career of accomplishment that can stand on its own without exaggeration. Despite his uneven performance in the debates, the content of his campaign in these final days demonstrates how much he has grown in the last year. Voting for him is not a gamble on unknown potential."

In the end, the Americans will vote for a government they deserve... just as we elected the government we deserve in 1998. That’s the essence of democracy. Unless citizens practice their democratic rights in an enlightened manner, democracy becomes nothing more than suffering the consequences of choosing someone who can only be described as the least common denominator.

Crying time

Overseas Filipino Dr. Ernie Espiritu sent in this one.

One day in heaven, the Lord decided he would visit the Earth and take a stroll. Walking down the road, the Lord encountered a man who was crying. The Lord asked the man, "Why are you crying, my son?" The man said that he was blind and had never seen a sunset. The Lord touched the man... he could see, and he was happy.

As the Lord walked further, he met another man crying and asked, "Why are you crying, my son?" The man was born a cripple and was never able to walk. The Lord touched him, he was able to walk, and he was happy.

Farther down the road, the Lord met a group of people who were crying and asked, "Why are you all crying?" The spokesman for the group said in between sobs, "Lord, we are Filipinos and our president is not smart enough to lead our country. And between our Cardinal and the politicians who are constantly at odds, poverty and hunger stalk our land."

And the Lord sat down and cried with them.

(Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected])