I was recently appalled when I picked up the Caymanian Compass and saw that some campaign posters had been defaced.
This act of total disrespect for the property of others was quite sad; but not entirely surprising in light of the ongoing negative campaign rhetoric.
My mind searched for who could have lowered themselves to this type of action.
I would like to challenge every voter to rise about such petty actions and exercise your voices at the polls.
Do not allow the political scenery in the Cayman Islands to be lowered to such putrid standards.
I completely understand how one can get impassioned and inflamed about many political issues.
However, it is imperative that we maintain a certain minimum level of what is acceptable. We have seen a culmination of the debate on the talk shows and political meetings.
It is my belief that we are reaching preposterous proportions and have to carefully consider what we hope to gain with these actions.
Let us be clear about the campaign process, there are some people that believe that mudslinging, name calling and character assassination is acceptable behaviour.
Many voters not only accept this type of childish and unprofessional behaviour but I would argue that so also encourage the candidates to engage in this behaviour.
That is evident from the fact that the crowds cheer the loudest during the negative aspects of public meetings. The electorate in the Cayman Islands is supposed to be a mature group.
We have highly intelligent and educated persons amongst us. I have faith that the average person would never engage in this type of behaviour.
However, have you ever closely examined your own behaviour and examined how you may be contributing to this type of activity?
We have seen the campaign rhetoric evolve around several key personalities and character assassination as opposed to sensible debate on the issues.
The aim appears to be simply to pull down individuals and not to dissect and critique their solutions to the problems facing this country. In fact, this behaviour is nothing new in the Cayman Islands.
What does it say about our political maturity as a people? Many candidates feel it necessary to attack their opponents on a very personal level. I find this to be rather distasteful.
There are several contributing factors. Firstly, the voter is responsive to this campaign approach.
Political meetings are ripe with negativity and yet people cheer on the candidates. This sends a message to the candidate that this is acceptable and welcomed conduct. Is it possible that we have lowered the bar to such a level that the voter does not expect anything better from us as candidates?
Voters have to realize the important role that they play in this whole process – expect and demand more from your candidates. There is an old saying that people will give you what you expect to receive.
The end result is that the real issues facing this country are sidelined. This is one of the pitfalls of the party system that we have to monitor carefully.
Our focus should be on working together to achieve the most beneficial results for the people. I am hopeful that we can challenge each candidate to rise above the pettiness of this type of behaviour and focus on the most important aspect of the political process- the voter.
Sandra Catron
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