Presidential Election Close at Hand....17 Days...

Here you go just to show you I'm a good sport.

I had a long conversation with my business partner to and from SD today and have really learned a lot about the latest election. We are both disgusted with Dominican politics but he will vote for Danilo because Hipolito stole the election from Miguel Vargas even though he is a lifelong predeista.

Ironically enough there apparently was collusion between the PRD committee leaders and the PLD because the former allowed for an open primary election in which apparently the PLD voters all voted for Hipolito so that MV couldn't get on the ticket as it was assumed that Danilo couldn't beat MV but could beat Hipolito.

I'm no fan of the comesolos and their ignorance of everyone that's not in their party or SD but honestly after listening to Hipolito on the news and hearing people tell me what he's said before in interviews honestly I think the guy has some screws loose not to mention with the assassination plot to kill MV I feel less and less good about the PRD. I'm actually leaning towards Danilo to win and I would be really happy if he lets Felix Bautista and Canoa out to dry if he wins.

BTW, as a good aplatanado gringo in Dominican fashion I'm going over my buddies house tomorrow night for an all inclusive bonche courtesy of the PLD to include fancy food and gallons of rum and beer and 300 people no less. Don't be surprised if I don't post again until Saturday pm. Maybe I'll become a comesolo so I can get a job

the way i see it is dull versus ADHD.

danilo seems to me like a quiet man. not exactly spineless but not much of a charismatic leader. educated, knowledgable but not quite emotional, not a crowd charmer. i do not think he is leonel's puppet, in fact those two do not get along very well. margarita as a vice president is a good choice propaganda wise but if anything she is even more uptight and boring personage than danilo. having said that there is something itchy about danilo, almost dexter like. maybe we will see his true face if he wins. or when he wins, by the looks of it.

hipolito is a life and soul of a party, game show host with bad jokes and wide grin. he truly says the most stupid s**t ever and i like him for that, in a way. a non PC politician in the PC world is like a breath of stale scrofulous air claims that failure of presidency was not his culpa, no fui yo. an annoying feature, to say the least.

none is a good choice, frankly. but i would rather take danilo because that opens more opportunities. if hipolito wins he'd put DR upside down, changing all he can so he can feed the greed of his supporters. because with no doubt he would not be re-elected and PLD would be back again.
if danilo wins things will stay more or less the same. but four years is time long enough for new leaders, new politicians to errupt. they'd come out even with hipolito at the wheel but we'd avoid all the fuss.

now i am awaiting dr1ers judgement and in particular slating for knowing nada about politics...

Llego Papa.



Ese es el que va!

JJ

Talking about the donkey Hipolito: what he said about the domestic employees was plain stupid, but to be honest.....I guess he is right....we have had several maids in the past two years and probably half of them we had to fire while they were stealing whatever they could get their hands on, from meat, to wedding rings, to bathing suits, underwear, sunglasses. My wife kind of senses it when something is going on and there we go again looking for a new one.

I don't know anything about the politicians and appreciate this information. The only thing I DO know and was told by someone who is close enough to know these things is that, locally, you want the new president to be from the same party as your mayor. I was told that money for projects flows in the direction of the party. It makes sense. We know the politicians stick together.

So, if you are looking for country-wide growth I don't know the answer for a potential president. But, if your interest is in local growth, then support the candidate who is from the same party as your mayor.

Lindsey

LindseyKaufman said:

I don't know anything about the politicians and appreciate this information. The only thing I DO know and was told by someone who is close enough to know these things is that, locally, you want the new president to be from the same party as your mayor. I was told that money for projects flows in the direction of the party. It makes sense. We know the politicians stick together.

So, if you are looking for country-wide growth I don't know the answer for a potential president. But, if your interest is in local growth, then support the candidate who is from the same party as your mayor.

Lindsey

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I question if that is true of Sosua. The new mayor is PRD but she seems to have gotten help from the PLD. The PLD candidates have been campaigning hard here and have made a lot of promises, including the new hospital. If Sosua goes for PLD I believe it will get its share even though the mayor is PRD. That is the PLD's best hope of getting the town back in the next election

Ken said:

I question if that is true of Sosua. The new mayor is PRD but she seems to have gotten help from the PLD. The PLD candidates have been campaigning hard here and have made a lot of promises, including the new hospital. If Sosua goes for PLD I believe it will get its share even though the mayor is PRD. That is the PLD's best hope of getting the town back in the next election

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I respect your opinion as much as anyone, Ken. What I know, I was told by a staunch supporter of our mayor, a powerful, successful Dominican, a business owner and a resident of our area.

I am relying on the information of another. If it is not correct, I apologize.

Lindsey

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on who you ask city money has nothing to do with the government in power. There's something called 'La Liga Municipal' that gets the money for all the municipalities and then they distribute it. Having said that it is also true that if the local mayor is friends with the people in power he/she may get in some favors such as road repairs, some school, etc...

In terms of pros and cons I think we all agree is mostly cons. I really don't care for Danilo (A technocrat and career politician who has never put in an honest day's of work in his life), but the alternative is even worse. We all already know what a Hippo government will be like. One thing is for sure it appears that this election will be very very close (maybe even close enough that a second round will be needed) and you can expect some issues with the losing party refusing to accept the results.

LindseyKaufman said:

I respect your opinion as much as anyone, Ken. What I know, I was told by a staunch supporter of our mayor, a powerful, successful Dominican, a business owner and a resident of our area.

I am relying on the information of another. If it is not correct, I apologize.

Lindsey

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Well, your informant is closer to the situation than I am. I have nothing to base my thinking on other that what seemed to be a close cooperation this year between government officials and the mayor of Sosua, and the promises of the PLD candidates and the President himself when he laid the cornerstone for the hospital which hopefully was not just a campaign tactic.

Of course, he may also be campaigning for the PRD, trying to drum up support for talking about all the good things that will happen if the people of Sosua vote in Hippo.

I guess we will have to wait until after the election to see if Sosua is ignored if PLD wins the election.

waytogo said:

I guess what I really want to know is, who has the balls to make the changes "long overdue" for this country to advance.
OR is it whoever wins.....same ole' same ole'...............with just a different name.....

B in Santiago

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No one.

100% Right

suarezn said:

In terms of pros and cons I think we all agree is mostly cons. I really don't care for Danilo (A technocrat and career politician who has never put in an honest day's of work in his life), but the alternative is even worse. We all already know what a Hippo government will be like. One thing is for sure it appears that this election will be very very close (maybe even close enough that a second round will be needed) and you can expect some issues with the losing party refusing to accept the results.

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This is exactly correct and exactly what will happen

maybe we should start a thread on expected number of deaths during elections. for a nation that can be easily convinced to vote for a certain candidate by the means of chicken people take politics very seriously. there is always someone stabbed ot shot. and should there be a secunda vuelta there will be lots of unrest. an idea of 50%+1 vote is fairly new here and i am not sure people will be very understanding. there will be lots of speculations of fraud.
right now the polls seem to favour danilo, as expected. at the end of the day the winner will be the one who can buy more cedulas.

My sense from what I am hearing is that there is an expectation that trouble after this election more likely than after last couple.

I heard on the street today that when the President's wife was campaigning in Bonao yesterday that stones were thrown at her. Fact or rumor, I don't know. But in the political climate that seems to exist right now it is very possible.

the hat had more value than it's content, no doubt. and was just as ugly.