Caracas Chronicles

As tweet after tweet comes and goes discussing the need to go and vote on December 16th, an important question looms large in the minds of disillusioned opposition voters: why?

Why is it necessary to vote on December 16th? Does having an opposition governor really make that much of a difference in people’s lives? It doesn’t make you safer, it doesn’t make you more prosperous, and it sure as hell doesn’t immunize you from blackouts, scarcity, or inflation.

You might argue that state governors are grooming grounds for future leaders, but let’s remember that

a) Chávez isn’t going anywhere, and

b) the nation has never elected a state governor as President.

In fact, all the state governors that have run for office have performed miserably.

Now, before you go all commando on me and start accusing me of abstencionismo, please note that I fully encourage people to vote on December 16th … but mostly as a matter of principle.

Opposition voters should drag their heavy hearts and endure five hours in the sun in order to submit themselves to Tibisay’s little machines. But if we’re going to ask them to do this and endure yet another night of heartbreak, we’re going to have to do better than simply say we need to vote in order to “preserve spaces.”

What does that even mean, anyway?

We need to be creative and draw a picture for voters of the real difference an opposition state government makes in people’s lives – something like this, perhaps. From what I’ve seen so far, we’re falling way short of meeting that goal.