Election Day

Nov 20/12

Ok, so this is a bit late but I would like to discuss Election Day in Puerto Rico. First off, yay- Big O in the house! Secondly, if elections in the “states” were run the way they are here, people may not have such a hard time voting/feeling so bitter about the outcome. Gearing up to elections there have been smiling faces of airbrushed Puerto Rican politicians smeared on billboards and stuck to pole lines. I am still wondering if Eric Mas won because he really had a lot going on in Mayaguez; he could probably have some good slogans with a last name Mas: “Mas can do more for Mayaguez” etc. However, my favorite part about election season here was the promoting. Instead of superpacs Puerto Ricans have stereos fashioned to the tops of people’s cars and guaguas (trucks/vans). Not only were they patriotically painted but they BLASTED reggaton and other types of music. The cars would just drive around our block, speakers blaring, while promoting their candidates. I thought to myself, now this is great, because now you are associating the election will some wonderfully hip music that makes you want to dance. So you become happy, and then associate your happiness with that person…sneaky.

Anyways it got me thinking what if Romney and Obama had come up with their massive car-speaker distribution system as a campaign tactic. Do you think Romney would have done better? While Obama campaign volunteers would surely be blasting some Jay-Z/Lady Gaga/Scrillex mash-up I am not sure Romney’s country bee-bop would have energized the youth as much. But hey, I am moving to South Carolina- what do I know?...I only hope the candidate with the best sound system/playlist won.