Republican hopeful Mitt Romney put up a spirited fight to
emerge second in the just concluded presidential elections in Kogelo, Kenya.
In what would have been an Obama walkover following the
tilted pitch in his favour, Romney surprised many when he polled twelve votes
against his erstwhile opponent Barack Obama. Obama who carried the day with a
massive win of 143 votes in the Electoral College is said to have fought hard
to shrug off a possible Romney close.
It is not lost on many a Romney supporter though that Obama
enjoyed undue advantage in almost all fronts. First, Kogelo, the political
battleground is technically Obama’s backyard, him having had his father born in
this village and two, he, Obama having planted vegetables in one of the gardens
when he visited in 1987 while tracing the roots of his father.
 |
| Romney acknowledges his supporters in Kogelo |
It is said the vegetable Obama planted has some kind of half
life tendencies which make it survive generations and could therefore last more
than Obama’s second term. The tradition among the locals is that it’s only the
grower of such seed who can terminate the life of the plant through a ritual.
For now, Obama is back to Washington for business and talk of a ritual may have
to come after the second term. It therefore goes that since almost all the
voters in the state had partaken of the vegetable, they were bound by the
vegetable juice to pay homage to the owner, only traced to Obama’s hands.
Secondly, the resistant and somewhat hostile environment
which the polls were conducted made it almost impossible for Romney supporters
to do business freely and display their unwavering support for the Republican
contender. This was further compounded by the electoral queue system which had
a black man guiding Republican voters. This, of course was uninviting for white
voters.
 |
| Obama celebrates election victory with family. |
Despite these shortcomings, Romney fought a good fight to
scoop the swing states which added up the numbers to twelve. The swing states
are largely made up of disenchanted voters who feel Obama’s policies have not
had any positive impact in their lives. These states included Kogello Kar wang,
Kogelo McOnyango and Koger Kogelo. The voters in these states differ with
Obama’s policies particularly on healthcare, famously dubbed Obamacare. This,
they noted that despite the positive nature of this policy, their states had
not been considered for the same owing to the relative distance from Kogelo,
Obama’s campaign headquarters and home.
Obama’s failure to visit these swing states in his first
term was also his undoing. Residents observed that Obama had only concentrated
his efforts in his home state-Kogelo with just a single visit to Koger Kogelo
in 2010.
Additionally, Obama’s rather liberal attitude on marriage,
family, don’t say don’t tell and contraceptives became Romney’s cake. The swing
states, largely considered conservative were critical of Obama’s policies on
these issues terming them as foreign and evil. Romney who came in as the Mormon
man of cloth and defender of marriage as God’s design of man and woman found
comfort in these states thus a twelve vote win.
Romney though conceded defeat after hope waned following a
major loss from one of the swing states, Koger Kogelo once considered a red
state.
