UPDATE: President Obama wins election! Four more years in White House
Republican Mitt Romney with running mate Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan had a bright start but fell away just as analysts had predicted.
Obama currently has 256 electoral votes on his way to the magical 270 to retain the presidency while Romney has 203 electoral votes but that is mere numbers as there is no way Romney is likely to make a comeback.
Earlier, it was confirmed that the Democrats would keep control of the Senate.
There is already loud celebration at Obama Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois as supporters are more than convinced that Obama has retained the presidency according to projections.
Virgin Islanders Back President Barack Obama
Prior to the elections, Virgin Islands News Online was on the streets and the telephone asking residents who they believe would win and who they were backing in the US presidential elections.
Claude Skelton-Cline an astute observer of American politics, who himself worked in the USA for a big city Mayor, told this news site that, "I suspect that it is going to be the incumbent. The polls are in his direction...and he has the power of incumbency. I think he has done an exceptional job under the circumstances and conditions..."
Mr. Skelton-Cline himself was a candidate with the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the Virgin Islands (VI) elections. He was defeated by political veteran J. Alvin Christopher for the 2nd District seat.
L. Allan Wheatley, a former Financial Secretary with the VI Government, told this news site that, "I can't say who would win but I can say who I would like to win- Obama, simply because of the ethnic factor, the performance that he has done with respect to international affairs as well as recovering the economy from the Bush era."
Mr. Wheatley himself was a candidate with his own Party of the People for the 7th District seat. He also lost to another veteran now Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources and Labour, Dr. the Honourable Kedrick Pickering.
Donald E. de Castro, a local political activist and controversial talk show host who had lived and worked in the USA, said he expect Obama to win because “he is the only one who has a decent agenda. People who would be voting for Romney are basically voting against Obama."
Virgin Islands News Online also caught up with Bishop John I. Cline of the New Life Baptist Church and Chairman of the BVI Health Services Authority. Bishop Cline said he predicts that “President Obama will serve a second term”…. “I think that when all is said and done the people will realise that he inherited a very bad economy and the country was on an economical slide that he has brought it back, from the auto industry to job creation. It has not happened as fast as the people would like but I think once the dust has settled there would be enough who has seen what he has done." He also said that with President Obama's health care plan, millions of persons who could not have afforded health care would now be able to do so and this would also be a major factor for votes in Obama's favour.
Another talk show host, himself an Independent candidate in last year’s VI election who lost, Edmund Maduro told this news site that, "From what I have seen it is a tight race but Obama should come out the winner, if what we are seeing on television are facts." He said in politics he does not look at people but at policies and performance and given the situation globally, Obama has done an excellent job. "I think he is worthy for a second term." He also said that Mitt Romney has been inconsistent in representing his policies and this could work against him at the polls….and Obama he works with the poor people.”
If you don't work with the poor people Mr. Maduro asked “who the hell you are going to work with? …Romney seems to be more concerned with more capital gains for the rich while Obama has made a lot of strides with the average man. He has also been talking about the middle class and not just the poor man."
Natalio Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru, another talk show host, a lecturer at the local community college and another candidate who contested a Territorial seat in last year’s VI election with a newly formed political party The People’s Patriotic Alliance, said he believed President Obama would win because the Democratic Party is more inclusive and represents women and social issues and this could aid in the number of votes for Obama. "America has also gone through a tough time in terms of its economy and that could have easily hurt the incumbent. Somehow I think though that President Obama will pull through." He also noted that the odds are against Romney and believes President Obama would be returned to the White House.
Devon Sinclair when asked about his views on the American election said, “I believe Obama will win because Mitt Romney is only looking to make the rich richer and he has been also dishonest throughout his campaign. Until now I don't really know what Romney stands for or is against because he changes his mouth so often”.
A different prediction from the rest of the conventional wisdom
Many other persons throughout the Virgin Islands had registered their strong support for President Obama from Virgin Gorda, to Jost van Dyke, the streets of Road Town and even many persons this news site spoke to on Anegada. They had all predicted that the President woul be victorious in the November 6 election.
This news site also caught up with Julian Willock, a former Permanent Secretary and who has studied International Politics/Relations and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science. He told this news site that two things will happen; either President Obama will win having enough Electoral College votes to put him over the top, or alternatively, if Mitt Romney wins he will blow out the President in a landslide. Mr. Willock conceded that he knows, “I am the only one in the world with this view of what will happen, if Mitt Romney wins, which no American polls have predicted or even my many friends in the social science/political polling filed shares, but watch.”
What an American Election means for the Virgin Islands/Caribbean!
Clearly, the Caribbean, the Virgin Islands not even the United States Virgin Islands got any attention from neither Mr. Romney nor the US President during the campaign. Despite this, it was predicted that if Mr Romney had won, and Cuba apart, it was unlikely that his administration’s approach to the Virgin Islands or the Caribbean will be significantly different to that of President Obama other than where regional issues touch on changed strategic concerns relating to trade policy, China, and the Middle East.
In the candidates’ foreign policy debate, only Mr. Romney mentioned the Hemisphere, speaking about the trade opportunity with Latin America, with not one mention of other parts of the region or even Haiti or Cuba.
With Obama winning the US elections, US policy towards the Caribbean is expected to remain largely unchanged.
Concluding that nothing much will change for the Virgin Islands with Obama it then means that pressure on offshore financial centres like that in the Virgin Islands will continue; the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act will not go away.
It requires foreign banks to find any American account holders and disclose their balances, receipts, and withdrawals to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or be subject to a 30% withholding tax on income from US financial assets held by the banks.
The Virgin Islands, however, needs to get some of our locals involved in lobbying efforts and people who truly have our interest at hand.
Our interest must go beyond the drug trade, extradition, or a visa waiver to shop in Miami, Puerto Rico or Atlanta. The time has come for it to go beyond spending millions of dollars with big public relations firms to get a hand full of tourist to our islands when it’s cold up North. The time has come for a serious presence in Washington DC to influence their policies in our interest.
Oh before we forget, Congratulations Barack Obama!
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70 Responses to “UPDATE: President Obama wins election! Four more years in White House”
Tek dah in yuh @$$
You need hush your @$$..! Mitt ain got nuddin good for the U.S.A #TeamObama boss
i guess you got the cut @$$ dummy!...lol
Please don’t blow it on Tuesday, America! We can’t afford a president who’ll sell our country for parts.
Obama/Biden 2012
LMAO!!! Obama will kill our industry? LMAO!! What a crock of bul$h!t!! Do you think the entire world revolve around America? Asia is who we need to be focused on, not broke America. Obama will mop the floor with Romney by the way, we all know this, only the media trying to make it seem like a horse race or photo finish so you can keep tuning into their brainwashing rubbish!! To all who are saying Obama will kill our industry, explain, tell us how he will kill it. I bet you can't. Just rehashing mainstream media bull$h!t.
America is always getting involved in other countries' business because of the effects it MAY have on them. They never want to see another country prosper from their shortcomings. So all anti-tax free jurisdictions like the BVI, BEWARE!!!
who wants to raise capital gains?
who will run up private insurance premiums?
OBAMA because he doesn't know ZIP about money, he's never run a business...
For all of the haterz, tek dat!
Congratulation!!! Obama 44