Indeed, there are very very few political figures — right now I can only think of one — who are independent: “not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself.”
The rest, let’s be honest, are “independent” because they believe they would have a better chance of winning if they’re not on any party slate. But that’s opportunism not independence.
Consider, for example, the independent gubernatorial ticket of a former Democrat and a supposed Republican. They are so “independent” that they even have a slate of sorts, with like-minded “independents” who, at one point in their lives, were either Republicans or Democrats.
Since 1991, to be sure, several independent candidates have won CNMI elections, but it was last year’s congressional race that indicated what many believed was the irrevocable break-up of the two-party system. After all, the ruling party couldn’t even field a candidate; the Democratic bet could only finish sixth in a nine-way race; and the GOP contender did not get the full backing of his partymates.
But the congressional race is not the same as a gubernatorial derby, especially now that the runoff rule is in effect. The standard-bearers are usually running with other candidates of their parties. As the independent Heinz-Dave ticket found out in 2005, you must have a complete slate to drum up more support particularly on Rota and Tinian whose votes could play a major role in a tight race. HD won on Saipan, but lost by only 84 votes CNMI-wide to the Covenant ticket which took Rota and placed second on Tinian, where the GOP won. (The HD team was a far third on both islands.)
This is another gubernatorial election year and the Republicans, more unified than they were four years ago, have the wind in their sails.
The fragmentation of the two-party system that began in 1997 is just a long, drawn-out re-alignment process that reflects the big changes happening in this small community.
But there will be clarity in the political arena after the gubernatorial election, when the new governor begins finding out, like Santa Claus, who’s been naughty or nice — i.e., who will be in or out.
The Democrats, after hemorrhaging throughout their seemingly endless inter-party fighting, are now being revived by new blood and will resume their rightful place as the islands’ other major political party once the Covenant Party, the Republitan wing of the GOP, has run its course. That is, after this year’s elections.
The revival of the Dems under a new and Obama-inspired leadership is one of the most hopeful signs that the local political landscape is improving. Soon, the CNMI will have a Democratic Party aligned with the DNC and offering more than the usual platitudes to the electorate. The local GOP is already aligned with its national counterpart. Now that the CNMI finally has a seat in the U.S. Congress, and with the coming federalization of local immigration, the commonwealth will eventually have two parties with clearly defined beliefs that mirror the robust and dynamic political debates in the U.S.
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In this year’s four-way gubernatorial race, there are three candidates from the good old days when there was no problem that could not be solved by spending more and hiring more. That era is about to end but the old school politicos are making their last stand in this year’s elections. Two of them are trying to re-package themselves as “new,” but the result is like seeing a tall, hairy man, with mustache and all, wearing a pink tutu and trying hard to look like a ballerina. (That movie scene of Borat in his swimsuit at the beach also comes to mind.)
Only those with amnesia will “buy” the “change” that these candidates are peddling.
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