Caracas Chronicles

There’s been a lot of hand-wringing, woe-is-me, apocalyptic writing about last Sunday’s results. I find this curious since, as Iñaki and others clearly point out, the results were simply a repeat of what happened in October.

As in October, we lost by about 10 points, give or take. Just like in October, we only won in a handful of states. The effect of the October election lingered into December, albeit with far fewer voters bothering to show up, as anyone could have predicted.

Then, what’s with all the drama?

There is nothing relevant we learned last Sunday that we didn’t already know from October. That UNT had lost control over Zulia? Check. That Falcón is an appealing figure that cuts across the natural chavista-opposition divide? Check. That Capriles does better when not facing Chávez personally? Check. That the voters had serious concerns about the Salas monarchy? Check, check, check.

Some people say the drama lies in that we “lost spaces.” Yes, that is true, but how does that affect us, exactly?

It’s not like having governors in Zulia, Carabobo or Nueva Esparta helped us carry those states in the Presidential election, the one that really matters. And let’s remember that Hugo Chávez, when he won his election in 1998, had zero governors in his coalition. It seems to me that the dramatic posturing regarding the results last Sunday is just a bunch of politicians bemoaning the fact that their patronage networks will have to be dismantled. For most ordinary citizens, quality of life will continue being what it was: the pits.

Really, people, let’s move on. If the world doesn’t end tomorrow, we have another election right around the corner. Enough with the navel-gazing, and let’s get back to work.