DNA Leader Branville McCartney held fast in the lead-up to and during the recent general election to two false premises that powered his ambition since he quit former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's Cabinet.
His first false premise: He underestimated the commitment of the overwhelming majority of Bahamians to a two-party parliamentary democracy. Secondly, he over-estimated his political appeal and charm.
McCartney continued to believe that he could triangulate between the PLP and FNM, offering disaffected voters a new political home. At minimum, he saw himself and the DNA as pivotal in deciding who would win the government.
McCartney famously bragged: "The DNA, we may not be, we may not have any seats, but we gat some numbers, and we can determine who is the government, just like we did in the last election."
McCartney thumped: "If the DNA is not the government next time, we'll determine who the government is the next time, in a more significant way."
Things proved considerably otherwise. The DNA did not run a full slate of candidates. The party ran a dismal and uninspiring campaign. It reportedly did not enjoy the financing it needed. The party's vote was cut in half. There was a big loss of deposits. McCartney hemorrhaged support in Bamboo Town.
His sombre deflated tone during a broadcast appearance election night revealed a man shocked by his irrelevance and that of his party at the 2017 general election.
McCartney previously insisted that the only way the opposition forces could win was if the FNM joined forces with the DNA. Note the arrogant configuration of who should join whom.
For some time McCartney arrogantly attempted to play the FNM into giving the DNA 16 winnable seats. The man whose party had no seats, wanted a lion's share of the best seats.
Outrageous
He wanted a coalition with the FNM. FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis correctly balked at both requests for him to surrender to such outrageous demands.
Minnis countered with four or so seats. He insisted that the DNA had to fold its tent and become a part of the FNM. When McCartney refused a deal, Minnis and the FNM repeatedly pounded him politically.
The second colossal mistake of his political life was McCartney's failure to reach an accommodation with the FNM during this election cycle. McCartney's gargantuan ego once again capsized his political ambition and career.
One of the FNM's best attack lines on the DNA during the election campaign was: "If you go to bed with the DNA, you might wake up with the PLP." Hubert Minnis is now prime minister. Branville McCartney will likely become more irrelevant.
Of course, the first colossal error was when, in a rage of egomania, McCartney abruptly quit Ingraham's Cabinet and the FNM to launch his vanity party.
Instead of maturing politically within the FNM, he left in an explosion of pique because his supposed brilliance and magnetic appeal went unrecognized and unrewarded by Ingraham and the FNM.
This election season, his egomania once again blindsided him. Had he done a deal with the FNM, he would now be in government. His acceptance of a Senate appointment from then Opposition Leader Loretta Butler-Turner did not sit well with many in his party or the public.
When he resigned the Senate, arguing that he and Butler-Turner had no political deal, few believed his version of events. Many more saw him as an untrustworthy political charlatan.
Resentment
McCartney was so peeved and exercised by the failure of both Ingraham and Minnis to bow down before him that he appeared to prefer a PLP government. His seething resentment toward the FNM blinded his political calculations.
The DNA was a factor in the FNM's 2007 loss. But there were other critical factors as repeatedly noted by several commentators. The FNM was also defeated because it lost the women's vote and the youth vote.
In 2017, many former supporters of the DNA realized that a vote for the party could lead to a PLP victory. But just as critical to the FNM's landslide was that the party overwhelmingly won over young people and women. The DNA's supposed appeal to young people this election did not materialize.
Despite its shellacking, the PLP will regroup. It remains a powerful political organization, though it has lost a central narrative and mythology that sustained the party for decades.
The DNA has no such sustaining power. In the aftermath of its political collapse at the general election, McCartney noted that the party would assess the way forward.
The DNA will likely see a loss in membership, including of candidates who ran in this election cycle. Few will want to finance a party that has next to no chance of becoming the government.
Many Bahamians concluded from watching McCartney's conduct - in his "throwing Butler-Turner under the bus"; in his outrageous demands of Minnis and the FNM; and in his comments proclaiming that the DNA would decide who won the election - that McCartney saw politics as a sport or game for his leisure and pleasure.
Many concluded that he was more concerned about his games and ambition than he was about the concerns of most Bahamians, including the jobless and the poor.
A video on social media captured the thoughts of many about McCartney. It began with the title: "The more a man talks, the more is revealed about his true character". The video noted: "Branville McCartney takes this for a game. This is for keeps. This is our life."
The video, which was seen by thousands, observes of McCartney: "This man is a millionaire; his family ain't worryin' 'bout anything. He don't care if we suffer for 50 more years."
McCartney has led his party to two defeats. He may not realize how negatively most Bahamians now view him. He is seen as being driven mostly by vanity and ego. He is seen as unserious. He is seen as Perry Christie-lite. Like Christie, the more he talks, the more negatively he is viewed.
The DNA has a critical leadership problem. It is seen by many as a Branville McCartney enterprise. Were he to step aside, the party would likely quickly collapse and enter into the annals of other failed third parties, like the Dr. B.J. Nottage-led Coalition for Democratic Reform, which had a great deal more substance than the DNA.
Ridiculous
Just as the DNA collapsed at the election, the "Spoil the Ballot" campaign promoted by two University of The Bahamas lecturers proved futile and ridiculous. Instead of arguing for political engagement, the campaign advocated retreat from the political process.
Bahamians proved smarter, wiser and more sophisticated than certain individuals with doctorates who proved shallow in their sophomoric analysis of modern Bahamian politics.
They lacked a sense of history and democratic possibility for the future. They are so hobbled by blinders, false equivalencies, political cliches, conceits and insipid analysis that they have been unable to grow beyond for decades.
Those who simplistically comment on our system with scant historic knowledge and perspective, and little understanding of the design of our parliamentary system, often give in to the temptation of what essayist and writer Adam Gopnick describes as "presentism".
Presentism only looks at the present. It does not see the past or history, including the history of other countries and cultures. Presentism fails to see a different future beyond current circumstances.
Unfortunately, one of the lecturers who promoted the "Spoil the Ballot" campaign has demonstrated little capacity for intellectual growth. She remains blindingly ignorant of our constitution and the workings of parliamentary democracy. She will likely continue to prattle on with all manner of dribble.
The fetish for and mistaken belief that the adoption of certain American political practices will necessarily improve our democracy is unwise. Our collective task is to better understand, improve and work our time-tested system of government.
We need government and party reform. We need to continue to educate and inform Bahamians about the history and genius of our system.
Many people in the region are extraordinarily impressed by what the Bahamian people did at the last election. We continue to mature as a democracy.
In the end, the best recall system and term limits rest in the hands of voters to civilly, with little fuss, but with fierce determination, remove a government from office in a general election.
Our democracy is not perfect. But it works considerably better than some of the elites and others imagine.
o frontporchguardian@gmail.com, www.bahamapundit.com.
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