The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

In early December renowned South Floridian radio personality Joyce Kaufman and a female guest on her 850 WFTL afternoon show discussed the unlikelihood of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham – a 60-year-old bachelor becoming the next president of the United States.

Both Kaufman and the guest were quite adamant that the American public - notwithstanding Hollywood and the vociferous liberal minority that has a firm stranglehold on the media - are by and large traditional.

Graham, who has no children, has since dropped out of the GOP presidential nomination race. Kaufman made the valid point that Graham being elected to the Oval Office would have presented an awkward situation, given the fact that there would have been no first lady. When queried by the press about this peculiar matter, Graham suggested that he would have a rotating first lady to fill the spot if he became president.

In fairness to Graham, him becoming president as a bachelor would not have been unprecedented.

Former Presidents James Buchanan, Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson all were bachelors when elected to the Oval Office.

The latter two married while in office, however; Buchanan remained a lifelong bachelor. Buchanan died in 1868; Cleveland in 1908 and Wilson in 1924.

My point is this was a very long time ago. The American public’s attitude towards having a bachelor as their Chief Executive has changed dramatically since the demise of Wilson, Grover and Buchanan.

Here in The Bahamas, our attitude towards having a bachelor as national leader mirrors  the American public. While it must be conceded that our moral fiber has eroded, many Bahamians still hold to a traditional worldview. Most Bahamians would simply scoff at the idea of having a bachelor prime minister.

All of our national leaders dating back to the first premier, Sir Roland ‘‘Pop’’ Symonette, were married. In the event the PLP loses the upcoming general election, it is quite possible that Prime Minister Perry Christie will finally stand down as party leader, paving the way for several senior PLP MPs to step forward in a bid to succeed him.

The names of Deputy Prime Minister Philip ‘‘Brave’’ Davis, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell have been bandied about for years now as possible successors to Christie.

It is my view that Messrs Wilchcombe and Mitchell are at a distinct disadvantage to Davis owing to the fact that both men are currently not married and, at least to my finite knowledge, have never been married. I can see an awkward, albeit, far-fetched scenario whereby Wilchcombe or Mitchell are successful in besting Davis at the PLP convention for the leadership position, based on the fact that both men are more adept at political nomenclature and have a more polished erudition than Davis.

Perchance the two bachelors would be able to woo over the PLP stalwarts with their oratorical abilities, seeing that Davis is woefully lacking in this regard, with all due respect to the deputy prime minister.

Such a scenario, no matter how awkward, is not out of the realm of possibility. What is out of the realm of possibility is a bachelor becoming prime minister, especially one who is middle-aged.  

All things considered, the view of PLP stalwarts, however many there may be, will not be the reflection of the views of the overwhelming majority of Bahamians, who simply will not, under any circumstances, be comfortable with a bachelor asking them to make him their prime minister. To many Bahamians, this is a most sensitive matter.

Electing either Wilchcombe or Mitchell as PLP leader would be a colossal gamble for the PLP, as such a scenario would be awkward to thousands of Bahamians who are used to having prime ministers with their first ladies.

While there is nothing in our Constitution which prohibits a single person from becoming prime minister; for many Bahamians, however, it is a matter of decorum; it is a matter of custom. In this regard, bachelor MPs need not apply for the office of prime minister.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, GB

January 11, 2016.