The Changing Landscape of the American Voter

by: Daniel Nardini

                     The current presidential election is doing something not seen in decades. It is fostering a greater interest among many people who will be President of the United States and what direction the country will take. Record number of African Americans, women and Latinos are registering for the upcoming election as never before. The majority are registering as Democrats right now, but this can change in a matter of months. Previously, many of America's ethnic and racial minorities had stayed out of the political process feeling that they will have no real impact on who the new president will be, nor on the issues that confront us.

                    This attitude is beginning to change with the circumstances of the present. The decline of the U.S. economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the housing mortgage rate meltdown, the rise of anti-immigrant attitudes in American society, and the fear of uncertain future is pushing many Americans, especially ethnic and racial minorities, to "do something" about the current state of affairs. The rivalry between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has also fueled the interest of African Americans, women and Latinos to register to vote. Will it alter the electorate landscape in the nex few months? That is hard to say.

                  Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of an Indiana law that requires voters to show proof of identification before they are allowed to vote. The ruling came even after it was shown that there was never any evidence that undocumented were able to vote in U.S. elections. This may have a chilling effect on ethnic and racial minority voters who may have a hard time showing proof of identification, or might have trouble being able to go to far away polling places. This ruling more likely favors the Republican Party, but only time will tell. A number of states are now considering laws similar to the one in Indiana. However, only those states dominated by Republican legislators are considering such laws---those controlled by Democrats will certainly not pass such laws.

                 Regardless of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the trend seems to be that more Americans than ever will be registering for this presidential election. A whole lot of factors mentioned above are influencing people as never before. What this election will produce will reveal itself in November.

Welcome to Capitalist Cuba

By: Daniel Nardini

                       Well, not quite. Since the formal end of Fidel Castro's presidency, more subtle changes have been occurring in Cuba within the last six months. Now, Cubans can buy and own cell phones. Now Cubans can buy and own their own DVD players and recorders. Now Cubans can buy their own personal computers, and when the Venezuelan government completes the underground cable through the Caribbean to Cuba ordinary Cubans will be able to access the Internet (Heavily censored of course). Cubans can now stay in the same hotels that foreign tourists frequent, and may soon be able to travel outside of Cuba without official permission from the government.

                       Now this does not change the nature of the Cuban government. Dissent is far from tolerated. The Cuban labor camp system is still very much intact, and the secret police still spy upon those Cubans it considers a "risk." It will not change the government's control of the newsmedia printed in Cuba, and it certainly will not change the fact that the Communist Party of Cuba is and shall remain the only political institution running the country. All that said, what changes that are taking place in Cuba are in fact following the Chinese and Vietnamese models. In China, the average Chinese has (at least in the urban area) access to computers and the Internet (heavily censored of course), has their own personal computer and cell phone(s), and can travel in and out of China without official permission of the government.

                     These changes in Cuba simply echo what has happened in the rest of the Communist world (with North Korea as an obvious exception). There have been other changes that have occurred before Fidel stepped aside that are significant. These include farmers growing their own produce to sell on the open market, factory owners having more say in how to run the factories they control, and the ending of subsidies for those sectors of the economy that are failing. The last part is significant because it follows the Chinese concept of market socialism and the Vietnamese doi moi (restructuring). These things are happening because the Cuban government realizes that it had lost its "free lunch" with the collapse of the Soviet Union 16 years ago. With the fact that the Cuban economy was stagnant, right now the Cuban leadership realizes that the only direction it can go is up. And despite the U.S. government embargo, the Cuban economy will go up.

                      The social and economic changes in Cuba will not launch any political or key social changes in the iron rule of the Communist Party of Cuba. None of these changes are meant to. These changes are simply keeping up with the current times. All other Communist nations are doing the same thing (with again it seems the exception of North Korea). True, Cuba will not become capitalist as we see in the United States or Mexico, but it is no longer the Cuba of the Cold War or even of Fidel Castro. Even with the propaganda posters on many billboards still dotting the island, advertisements for commercial products are becoming common in Cuba as in China and Vietnam. And Cubans can still receive American TV and radio station broadcast frequencies as they have since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Yes, Cuba is changing, and with that change it is high time that the U.S. government must begin to recognize Cuba. This anachronism of U.S. foreign policy has failed long ago, and has made the United States look ludicrous. As long as George W. Bush is in office this policy will not change. However, hopefully whoever is elected president in November will look at the Cuba of today, not the Cuba of yesteryear.