Guatemala sways Obama's ticket

After a lot of jawboning about swing states, Obama won the lot, with the exception of North Carolina. Much of this was due to the Latin American vote which swayed most of the southern swing states Obama's way. Hispanics made up 10% of the national vote and this is sure to rise in the years ahead. The population is growing (up 43% in the past decade) and the turnout is still only around 50% compared to well over 60% for other groups. In Florida, it was close with only 74000 votes separating the candidates out of over 8 million cast, razor-thin on any measure. Hispanics made the difference and these days Cuban-Americans are rivalled by voters from other parts of Central America, like Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador. America is changing colour and language so any party that wants to count will have to take heed. Notions of building electric fences across the Mexican border are unlikely to be winning strategies! The election was yet another example of America's thriving democracy, with all its flaws, not least of which is the absurd amount of money spent by candidates. We have to see now whether the newly-elected politicians are capable of mature compromise on the deficit and long-term national debt. So far children have been at play in Washington. The QSL is from R Maya de Barillas in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, on the Mexican border. This 1 kW station was heard on 90 mb in London in 1995. Station chief José Castañeda sent a lovely typed letter including congratulations on my Spanish! Actually my Spanish is very rudimentary but I had the use of a translator to put my letter together.