EDITORIAL - America's tough choice

The race for America's top job will be decided today when the final votes will be cast in the 2012 presidential election. The pundits have been forecasting a tight race, which will see either the incumbent, Barack Obama, or his Republican challenger, former governor Mitt Romney, being in charge of the White House.

Like the rest of the world, Jamaica and its CARICOM sisters have been captivated by the hard-fought and bitter campaign. Some commentators have argued that America has a tough choice. They could re-elect a president whose report card is spotty; some say his performance has been ineffective because of his naiveté and inexperience. Or they could pick his challenger, who has been described as a flip-flopping, quasi-liberal corporatist. But choose they must.

Almost a year into his reign, President Obama attended the Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, giving a glimmer of hope to Caribbean people that new partnerships, greater collaboration and clear paths to economic development were possible with our powerful neighbour.

But Obama's presidency was born in an economic hole. The staggering recession, joblessness, runaway national debt, and trying to end two wars captured the president's focus. The Caribbean did not really figure on the presidential agenda.

This African-American, who at a seminal moment in history convinced voters in 2008 to believe in his message of hope and change, has been on the receiving end of a great deal of rage. On several fronts, the president has disappointed Americans, and others beyond their shores.

After the votes are counted and the new president settles into his mandate in 2013, Caribbean nations will once again look to the administration with the hope that long-overdue matters can be settled, among them the crippling embargo that has held Cuba in a vice grip, as well as drug and arms trafficking, deportation, and bilateral trade.

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