FOLKS like to support and vote for candidates who appear the most appealing or the least THREATENING. What this means is that people like to hear good news, dress up or not. Only when reality bites do folks question more, critique more and are less inclined to give the benefit of the doubt.
This is why you saw the gap close from the ’02 elections to the ’06 elections with the same top candidates go head-to-head. Which means folks were more critical if the good times were really here because on Guam, the economy is always #1 unlike the mainland where Iraq took center stage (and therefore the domestic economy as well). Here, we are followers meaning we follow national trends, not set them since our leaders do not send us to war. (Even if Underwood voted for the Iraq resolution in 2002 as did many Democrats and I’m certain any Congressperson from Guam would have done so as well.)
And in order to sell the message that the economy is poised for a great recovery and rebound, the Camacho administration must have OVERSPENT especially between the primary and general elections to woo and court as many who would present themselves as potential voters. Which is why you can see the “dire straits” (not my words but Finance Chair Sen. Eddie “Pepsi” Cavlo’s on the 29th, the last day for the 28th Legislature) we are in with agencies being short on their allotments but more pronounced in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 (from Oct ’06 to Dec ’06).
In fact, when I drive through some villages, I see paved roads leading up to homes when the main route is still chock full of holes. Come to think of it. The governor was very confident, like the Sunshine Team was in the primary, about the deep South and the North. Eerily similar.

MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam