The writer is a native of Bacolod who moved 25 years ago to the United States, where he is now an American Citizen. A nursing graduate of Riverside College, he worked in Manila prior to his immigration. He had been a healthcare provider before venturing into various businesses. He is a book author.
With the United States National Election coming to a close on Tuesday, people are anxiously waiting for their ballots to be counted. Some are yet to cast their votes. Others remain indecisive.
People are crying for change in this country and whether we could or would be able to achieve this brings so many uncertainties. There is anger, disgust, and frustration beyond belief among those who fear that the next President of the US would perhaps be another laughingstock of the nation or the entire world.
My wife and I traveled to Los Angeles from San Francisco a few weeks ago. The long stretch of highway I-5 going south was nothing but a bore until we came to our last gas stop. We were welcomed by rednecks and bikers carrying their MAGA flags and rally cards in support of Donald Trump. The weather was quite warm but dry and a typical climate of Central Valley where I used to domicile.
Trump supporters are everywhere, even in California. Gavin Newsom had some disagreements with Trump over so many issues, like the COVID supplies, aids, and financial support which would have been allocated to the state in response to the pandemic, along with the California wildfires that never seemed to end.
Trump is not expected to win in this state; however, on the opposite side as far as Florida, he is expected to dominate the vote. The Trump and Mike Pence campaign is strong. The citizens of the 50 states could fall into a lure and the reds could easily take back what they have lost in the last four years of the Trump administration.
I am disgusted over how this nation was going because all we saw was a bad image of the United States to the world. This whole pandemic thing was scrutinized by most people, who either had lost jobs, health insurance, small businesses, homes, families, or personal investments. I am among those who lost a business. My two small businesses were thriving in the last 10 years until Trump became the President. He made a drastic change in immigration policies.
Aside from his dream to build the wall down south, he mandated those already living in the States with their families to return to Mexico, and, as a result, the family bond between parents and children was ruined. My customers, mostly of the Latino or Hispanic population, had diminished and this eventually impacted my business.
The Blue, or Democratic Party, has to stay in the game as strong as the Reds as the battle becomes so intense that, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ platform, it’s so difficult to gauge which of the two will prevail.
I personally became a Democrat as soon as I immigrated US during the Clinton era until the Obamas. I have strong advocacy on non-violence methods to maintain our ties with other countries and not to resort to a harsh or hostile resolution as a foreign policy.
This Nov. 3, Americans, despite racial injustices and political partiality, will again decide to make this land the most powerful nation. My political views only matter if or whenever my vote counts. The electoral colleges in each state will have the last say.
Mail-in ballots have been a dilemma for the Democrats over fears of Trump manipulating the ballots while urging the US Postal Service to terminate mail-in ballots. This was a disgrace to our Constitution, the veterans, and racial equality as publicized.
Vice presidential candidates are not so exposed or if I may say, in the limelight but so many things are passed on to the communities where Harris and Pence could actually put on a good show to the people. I have strong faith in Harris’ capacity alongside her partner at the White House. Kamala is a strong prosecutor. Her impressive accomplishments and accolades would make her a strong Vice President.
One major concern I see is Biden’s lack of articulation which makes it hard to encourage other politicians to follow his will. As softspoken as he is, his education is so much higher than Trump. It seems hard to see him delivering much power to the government officials and other branches. Kamala, however, has that character of power when put in a situation. Our economy needs a great leader to bring it back to where we used to live in comfort.
The health of our people is a sublime rock to run this economy at a steady economic pace. Our relationship with other nations, that we also rely on for trade and goods, which are more cost-effective than the US products, should also not break down. Our manpower of immigrants from neighboring nations, like Mexico, The Caribbean, Canada, and far-flung areas is also important.
The security and way of living will have catastrophic and substantive effects for generations to come if health care coverage is not accessible and affordable any longer.
As a healthcare provider, I saw a decline of clients in the past 5 years as more and more people were unemployed without health insurance. These are among the things that I fear we cannot or may find answers to.
The next President to sit in the Oval Office must be qualified and highly empathic on the welfare of the people.
