The Tribune

IF you are anything like the staff here at The Tribune, you spent last night watching the coverage from the US election.

It may not affect The Bahamas directly in terms of us having a vote – but the future of the US affects us directly in terms of our economy, the visitors coming our way, and a host of issues from ability to travel to tariffs we might have to pay.

So as we watch the microscopic detail of which way a particular county in North Carolina might vote, or why it’s so hard to tell until late in the day what Nevada’s vote will be, it is fascinating to watch.

There are some broad points to make, regardless of who the winner is – which at the time of writing is very much still up in the air.

First, vast amounts of money have been spent in this election cycle. The total election spending is predicted to be at least $15.9 billion.

Most remarkably, despite all that spending, looking at the results as they come in, the results are often only a point different here, a point different there.

All that money, and hardly any difference. It is impossible not to imagine how that money might have been spent in making a more substantial difference in the world than persuading a few people in battleground states.

Speaking of those battlegrounds, a huge amount of attention has been focused on those few states. So many states are taken for granted as voting one way or the other.

It might in some ways seem as if those other votes don’t matter – and yet, following the reporters on the ground, they consistently heard from locations where a small increase in votes, such as in college campuses, could make a radical difference to the outcome.

That is perhaps the biggest thing to learn for our own electoral system.

Too often it can seem as if one vote might not make a difference – but it really can.

There have been many occasions in our own voting history where the difference between a candidate winning or losing has come down to a handful of votes.

That is what we should be focusing on as this election passes by and as we start to look towards our next election here in The Bahamas.

We are on the road towards that vote – and our political parties will be looking to win your vote.

You will have the power to hire and fire – if you don’t like what they say, don’t give them your vote. If you don’t like what they have done, then show them the door.

There will be many promises. You should also judge parties on the promises they have made in the past – did they fulfill them or did they go by the wayside?

For those in opposition, take note of the things they are calling for right now – committees and inquiries, hold them to those demands. Make sure they appear in manifestos when the campaign trail begins, or they are not living up to their word.

So as we watch the campaign enthusiasm in our near neighbour, let us make sure we harness that energy for our own future.

A few voices can make a difference. Use them.