Guam-A Different Perspective

With five months until the Primary Election on Guam, there is no candidate for Governor of Guam from the Democratic Party of Guam.  Is this unusual? No-it isn't.

There are examples in the past  where the party was well into early summer declaring their intention to take Adelup. Perhaps this has happened more than once. So what is the rush?

Outsiders see this lack of action by the Democrats as the true state of the party. Insiders worry that they have lost touch with the Democrat base and will spell huge losses in November.  I see this whole matter as more political theater that will be the talk on the island for months and years to come.

The Sunshine Camp, led by former Governor Carl Gutierrez, began the first effort to be the Island's chief executive in 1972.  His 3,000 plus followers remain a power political machine and understand all the intricacies of running a grass roots campaign.  10 election cycles and millions of dollars in fundraising over the course of 40 years is an accomplishment.  But the Sunshine Camp can't always be the answer to the Democratic Party of Guam's leadership-whom have struggled to find a leader and move their political party forward into the modern day party that has since elected the Country's first Black President of the United States.

There have been many who have been rumored to be the heir apparent and be the third Democratic leader of our island government.  But rumor is just that.  Many of the once young vibrant leaders of the Democratic Party are now well past middle age and their energy to lead is not as limitless as in their younger days.  The new and youthful versions of the Democratic Party elite are nowhere near their elder statesmen counterparts.    Social media interaction and half-though spin on the current state of their party is now the norm.  When close to 80 percent of the island at one time identified themselves as Democrat, why can't they seem to get their act together and bring forward quality candidates to take on the mantle of political leadership in Guam?

I think that there may be a bright spot here.  Losses build character.  The great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi once said that, "You don't know who is important to you until you actually lose them."  The Democratic Party of Guam is staring down a long barrel of challenging races that could cost them not only a loss for Governor, but the legislative majority in the Guam Legislature and in municipal seats from Yigo to Umatac now and into the next three or four election cycles. We tell kids all the time that losing helps you win.  Go to any soccer field, baseball diamond or martial arts center and that is being preached to young people every day.  Word is that Democrat village meetings and Central Executive Committee meetings are far less productive than in the past. Losing is not in their vocabulary.  But stubborn is-at least the acts to keep doing things as a group and not changing with the times.

Despite the perception, the other side isn't as rosy. That for another day...