http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061119/focus/focus2.html
Published: Sunday | November 19, 2006

Cricketing first-class bullies excel at the regional level but flop on the international stage. You can't predict in advance who will step up. graeme Hick scored a record 50-plus first class centuries before his 25th birthday, yet was an infamous bust in tests.

Similarly, many politicians shine on the campaign trail but don't make good administrators. Portia Simpson Miller has been our most popular elected representative for years. But her performance as Prime Minister has been uneven. The unanswered Trafigura questions and bewildering 'Ask the PNP!' retort have many wondering if K.D. Knight and Maxine Henry-Wilson were right. 'Portia Not Ready?' Leighton Levy asked in The STAR of October 27, and the polls show he's not alone.

In cricket and democracy, those who don't perform are replaced, if a better prospect appears. Many think Bruce Golding and the JLP are a reasonably good Opposition. But are they government quality? This weekend's conference will make up a lot of minds.

As skipper, Mr. Golding will come under the closest scrutiny. Will he deliver another witty tour de force as in the budget debate? Or will he drone on depressingly as he did at last year's conference? He's always been very good, perhaps too good, at delineating the country's ills. But can he outline a vision of hope and paint a picture of a new and improved JLP-led Jamaica?

Street reaction

Though he garners a lot of respect, especially since Trafigura, the public hasn't warmed to him personally. The common street reaction is "Bruce does his homework and understands the issues, but I still don't like him." To many he is an opportunistic JLP to NDM to JLP flip-flopper. Others find him cool, even cold.

He certainly doesn't exude the instinctive gregariousness of the natural politician. Even the supposedly 'uncharismatic' P.J. Patterson had a winning smile and a sometimes twinkle in his eye. You occasionally see hints of these in Mr. Golding, but most of the time he has a serious, almost slightly angry look. Supporters say it's the air of a man constantly thinking about important matters. Detractors say it shows he's deep down selfish and uncaring about others.

The sexes seem a bit divided. A large segment of women are still willing to 'give Portia a chance'. But some men are almost derisory in their comments. A group of taxi men recently described her to me as 'A nice lady and a good wife but not Prime Minister material'. Yet, while many men are impressed by Mr. Golding's parliamentary performances, lots of females don't care for him.

Maybe it's because he lacks Michael Manley's Casanova magnetism or Edward Seaga's 'one don' authoritativeness or even Mr. Patterson's roguish charm. A friend sees it this way - "What you expect? Jamaican woman love old dog and Bruce is a family man".

If elected Mr. Golding would be our first 'never divorced nuclear family' Prime Minister in office, and his party is highlighting this fact. Family values is a sure fire vote gainer in most places. But this is Jamaica, where most women don't want laws requiring birth certificates to have the father's name. So who knows?

Rather than seeking to unleash his inner Bill Clinton - who Jamaican females adore - Mr. Golding is sensibly playing to his strengths. He'll never be an 'I'll take you where the music's playing' sweetmouth. But he can be the dependable 'bring home the bacon' provider. And while young girls pine for BMW X5s, worldly women settle for reliable Toyota Corollas. Experience teaches the hard way - as Jamaica learned in the 1970s - that 'Sometimes love just aint enough'.

Hugs and kisses make people feel good, for a short while. But it's detailed technocratic command of the issues that creates long-term prosperity. After 48 years of stirring Fidel Castro orations, Cuba is still mired in poverty. A decade of hands on Lee Kwan Yew number-crunching moved Singapore from Third World to First.

Under Mr. Golding the JLP appears organised and united. True, the PNP's barely concealed chaos makes their opponents look good by default. But it's a long time since the previously fractious Labourites have disagreed in public, and the new leader deserves the lion's share of the credit.

He's also been an effective Opposition Leader, pouncing alertly on government transgressions and routing them in intellectual debate. His handling of the Karl Samuda 'censure' affair was masterful. In one man's words, 'Bruce mek dem tek back dem chat!".

Yet the big question among voters is "What would change if the JLP won?". And so far we have no idea. All we keep hearing from Labour is 'The PNP is doing a lousy job!'. But where is the party manifesto? How can the JLP expect Jamaicans to have any confidence in their ability to grow the economy and reduce crime and improve the infrastructure, when they can't even present us with a set of policy positions?

Back in May a JLP sympathising friend took me to task for criticising his party. 'But nobody knows what you stand for!' I replied. What could they do about this, he asked. Well I'm no expert. But how about a one page summary from each shadow minister giving people an idea of what to expect if Labour gets elected? 'Done!' he answered, 'Give us a month!'. I'm still waiting.

Even when Labour comes up with something sensible, they market it poorly. The MacMillan crime plan had many good points. But why haven't JLP security spokesmen hammered the Government for not implementing those common sense measures that cost no money?

Labourites love to moan about stupid voters repeatedly electing a scandal-plagued party which has delivered little official growth and failed to control crime. But politics is as relative as the old joke about the two campers and the approaching bear. One guy puts on his running shoes. 'That's stupid' says the other, 'you can't outrun a bear'. 'I know' replies his friend, 'but I can outrun you'.

Jamaica is like a woman married to a drunken, cheating wife-beater. The guy next door keeps telling her 'Baby, you man useless. Leff him and come live with me.' 'Yes him good fi nutten', she says 'but suppose you wutless too?' 'Cho, don't worry bout that. Just let me show a better life.' 'What you mean by better?' she asks. 'Stop ask stupid questions and come with me!' he shouts. 'Me not coming till me know where you taking me', she protests. 'Damn fool gyal!' he curses and walks off.

The U.S. Democrats recently proved you can stand for nothing except 'time for a change' and still get elected, if your opponent is bad enough. But you'd think that after four straight general election defeats the JLP would try something other than 'Vote for us because we're not the PNP'. After all it hasn't worked for 17 years.

Since 1989 the Jamaican murder rate has tripled and our economic growth rate has consistently lagged behind the world average. This is poor governance by any standard and a decent Opposition should be far ahead in the standings. Yet the JLP and PNP are pretty much tied in the polls. True, that situation usually favours the challenger party. However, the PNP has not been running campaign ads like the JLP. So it's anybody's race.

Maybe the electorate is tired of 'More car, more phone, more gal' bragging. But will it vote for a puss in a bag?