Hillary Clinton, desperate to have the votes in Florida counted, recently likened her plight to the situation in Zimbabwe where “people go through the motions of an election only to have them discarded and disregarded.” (Who knew that the "kitchen sink" strategy of the Clinton campaign contained a Zimbabwean card?)
Her comments prompted an outraged Zimbabwean ambassador to the United States, Machivenyika Mapuranga, to declare that her comments were the result of “ignorance” or “malice.” Ironically, the indignant ambassador is quite correct in one important respect; it is absurd to compare the political process in the United States to that of Zimbabwe. Elections in Zimbabwe are bloody events involving intimidation, torture, and murder. The ruling party of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), deploys disaffected youths to harass and beat supporters of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). These brutal militias use a variety of barbaric techniques including kidnapping, rape, arson, stabbing, beating with clubs, and bicycle chains heated in fires. Anyone having the temerity to run against the ruling party is subject to arrest, torture, and assassination.
On May 5, 2008, the inhabitants of a small rural community would learn what it meant to go against the president, Robert Mugabe. Chaona, a village 65 miles north of Harare and traditional stronghold for Mugabe, did an about turn and voted for Morgan Tsvangirai in the March presidential elections. The villagers would pay a terrible price. Dozens of armed men, led by a ZANU-PF official, appeared and without warning began beating opposition activists with clubs, guns, and rocks. By the time they were finished, seven people had been bludgeoned to death, and a 79-year-old woman brutally whipped with barbwire. The lesson for the country was clear; vote for anyone other Robert Mugabe and be prepared to suffer a similar fate.
By way of contrast, political contests in the United States are highly civilized affairs where debates and speeches are the primary means of persuasion. Once the race is over, despite all the mud slinging, the rival parties accept the outcome and life goes on. Who can forget Al Gore's gracious concession speech after the Supreme Court awarded the presidency to George W. Bush? In many other countries, however, close elections lead to violence, as was the case in Kenya following the presidential elections in December 2007. Political violence left over 1500 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes.
It is an occupational hazard that American presidential candidates have to endure verbal assaults and dreaded epithets such as "flip flopper," "soft on crime," "inexperienced," "tax and spend liberal," and the always fatal, "out of touch." On the other hand, Zimbabwean opposition presidential candidates fear for their very lives. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC has been arrested several times, and even charged with treason. On March 11, 2007, he was taken into police custody and beaten until he lost consciousness.
Senator Clinton, like many politicians, engaged in hyperbole to reinforce her argument, but comparing the situation in Florida to disenfranchised voters in Zimbabwe is more than just a reach. The comparison is not only ludicrous, but also diminishes the prolonged suffering of the Zimbabwean people. Unemployment is at about 80%, AIDS is rampant, and hyperinflation is symptomatic of a shattered economy. Aside from political violence, ZANU-PF does everything imaginable to stifle the opposition. There are instances of civil servants, police officers, and even soldiers acting as election officials. In addition, in the presidential elections of March 2002, voters in Harare, the capitol of Zimbabwe, stood in line for three days waiting to cast their vote.
The ruling party, realizing that the opposition party was strong in urban areas, cut the number of polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo (the second largest city) by fifty percent from the 2000 elections. The impact was mass confusion, as people did not know where to go to vote, (it was reported that even Robert Mugabe showed up at the wrong polling station and had to be redirected to another venue). For those hapless voters who finally found the appropriate place to vote, they faced seemingly endless lines because the number of polling stations was woefully insufficient. Many patiently stood in line for three days with relatives and friends bringing them food and blankets, only to be told to go home, as the election was over.
In Florida there is discontent over hanging chads, butterfly ballots, and now sanctions imposed by the Democratic Party for holding an early primary. These should all be legitimate concerns, but to liken any one of them to the life and death struggles in Zimbabwe, as Senator Clinton did, demonstrates a lack of perspective and smacks of desperation.
