The Secretary-General of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Victor Bockarie Foh, Jacob Jusu Saffa of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and a representative from the Peoples Movement for Democratic Change have participated in a public lecture organized by the US Embassy on the forth coming US Presidential elections.
The Speaker, Sky Gallegos, has served as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Intergovernmental Affairs for the Democratic National Convention in Denver and has worked for the Democratic National Convention Committee which planned and produced the National Convention in Denver.
Sky Gallegos started by reflecting on the US 2000 elections which she referred to as closely contested in modern American elections history and also historical.
Speaking further about the American elections and how it was conducted, she stated that 20% of the American people were really partisan and about 25% of them were independent and only affiliated to a Presidential candidate.
She further said that a lot of history is about to be made in the US election either by the Democratic Candidate, Senator Barack Obama or that of the Republican candidate John McCain.
She disclosed that issues and personalities play a great role in the American elections.
The two Secretary Generals of the APC and SLPP contributed at an interactive session. Victor Foh reacted to a contribution on whether there was political merger in the US election like the Sierra Leone scenario.
He explained that the APC party carried the same message of change with the PMDC and that the alliance had been formed long ago as they were bed fellows in support of the same campaign message, change.
The SLPP Secretary-General, Jacob Jusu Saffa enquired how conservative votes and that of the Christian votes were going to influence the elections and also the personality of the Republican vice candidate, Sarah Palin.
The two representatives from the APC and the SLPP joked and frequently exchanged handshakes as they tried to relate certain issues in the US elections to the Sierra Leone experience.
This is one of series of public lectures organized by the Public Affairs of the US Embassy on the pending election.
Three (3) journalists have also been sponsored to witness the elections whilst twenty (20) women in the media (WIMSAL) watched live the Presidential debate with the US public Affairs Officer, Danna Van Brandt at her residence.
By Ishmael Bayoh