This was a healthy choice. I am not a fan of any party. However, if there is any chance of a real election in my country, any chance of real debate then Hipolito y Danilo will make a interesting duo.

DR needs change and fast. We need to have a return to some quality of life. Some decency in the public sector. Clean up the delinquents, the viciosos, solve the apagones, water and sewage. DR has to be more than the 1st stop for sexual tourism. DR needs to be a good place for all Dominicans, not just the rich. PUBLIC EDUCATION must be improved and public health available.

I pray that something good will happen. LF has been and is a empty suit. LF made the criminal element welcome without impunity.

This is a opportunity for all Dominicans to demand that DR be a good country

It will be business as usual

@Carmen,

Apagones solved....you must be a dreamer!

Basta, I am in agreement with you 100%.

MJEV.

Carmen ..I totally agree with you that we need a change very quickly for the reasons you have stated and I think we can also mention that a change to the legal system is needed but I very much doubt if the two candidates will bring any change
As you know , I do not think LF has always been an empty suit and the improvements in the roads and the water systems together with the diversification in industry can be attributed to his work in his early years . And we have seen a new huge and more luxurious tourist city develop in Punta Cana with great speed ..and I believe overseas investors came here because LF sold the DR very well.
I hope that both the presidential candidates can have a programme of social and administration changes that could bring an end to the corruption and establish new priorities in the budgets .

"LF sold the DR very well." (Rico)

...And kept the money!

Diversification in industry?

We have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The only diversification we have seen has been in the criminal industry.

We have become an island of drug dealers, money launderers, and a sexual predators paradise.

Nice job, LF.

And how about putting those who voted for rsegura an a yola and pushing them far out to sea.

I just hope that the real change will come to our country, Cause PoLITICOS just like to make promisse to get the vote, once they get what they want is over.

But Deffenely Rather to vote for : Danilo Medina than have Hipoloco Cabesa de Guevo, trying to come back and finish what he started back in 2000-2004. he almost sink the entire Island with everyones in it.

Here's what we are up against.

DT, one of the best places to post English commentary about Dominican life, can't even control their own comments section. The ads for services continues unabated. Obviously they care as much about their readers as the government cares about the pueblo.

juanb you are not correct ,,,there has been a dramatic diversification in industry in the DR concentrated in the capital ...away from the agricultural products and the garment industry . so much more is being produced here and for example in films and the industries associated with cel phones and computers and CD s and medical equipment and so on as well as spare parts for many machines ..The problem is that much of the population has had no training for these industries and are now redundant in the old industries which have decreased.
At the same time we have seen the rise in delinqueny as you state . But in relation to the story here , I doubt if the PLD has the ability to change things with the current leadership in place .

JuanB, please bear with us, these people are relentless, but we will not give up...

I'm sick of it also Juanb. Do these people really think that anyone is going to click on their clothmall website link?? Maybe someone will hack it and leave a message saying, "Don't post anymore on DT"

Interesting test for the PLD (and the DR's evolving two-party political system): Can the PLD continue successfully as an institution independent of Lionel, as the PRD has been able to do despite losing first Bosch and then Pena Gomez?

Or will it go the way of the Dominican Party after Trujillo or the PRSC after Balaguer? The 66 percent support for the current leadership is a positive sign for the PLD, but could it survive a loss to Hippolito next year? And will Lionel just fade away or try to make a comeback like Hippolito in 2016?

And, stepping back, is the development of a US-style two-party system here in the DR a good thing -- would multi-party system better (or less bad)?

Clearly this will be a critical election for the DR, even beyond the specific performance of whichever candidate who is elected.

this country will never be recognized as liegitimate until: all political parties are dissolved, the court system and all judges are replaced, the constitution is rewritten, the central bank is dissolved and a new monetary agancy is in place, the police are dissolved, the armed forced are dissolved,,there is freedom of the press and speech, the elctoral process is dissolved and a true voting mechanism is installed, the education system is totally revamped including the university structure, all p-ast officers of the cpountry are put on trial for corrption to regain the dignity of the state, and we start over with all new names, new parties, ,where experience and education count and where corruption is rapidly penalized with stiff prision sentences regardless of family or position.,

Danilo the best choice? Well, more like the only choice. Unless you want the DR to fall back, behind Haiti, as the poorest country in the region.
It is clear that the better choice left herself out of the picture, maybe to avoid the semblance of nepotism.
But Mr. Danilo still had to prove what he is saying, continue with the good things and leave the bad behind. We will see, and react.

Ricky:

I don't agree. I have extensive contacts throughout the country. They all tell me the same thing. There are no jobs. All the signs of a healthy economy other than false government announcements show that the economy is tanking. Restaurants are closing. Casinos are empty. Malls and shopping plazas are empty, many devoid of stores, no less shoppers. People have no money to spend.

How about if we start a movement to prevent the political parties from putting up their "beauty contest" posters. Right now, as you drive along the streets or autopistas look around at how many of these signs there are and the season hasn't even started. They waste millions of DOLLARS every campaign on these signs. For what? Just once I would like to see an intelligent discussion of the real problems and ideas for real solutions. I realize that that can never happen. Certainly not between Danilo and Hippo.

Corruptman -- This has never happened in any country and it will never happen in the DR. Who is going to "dissolve" all these evils and who's going to replace them? This is childish magical thinking.

Decent political and governmental institutions and practices cannot simply be imposed, they must develop and evolve over generations. This is how it has happened in all the nations that have relatively democratic politics and honest government -- and all of them are still far from perfect.

Of course, the process is not automatic. More than a few nations, including Haiti, show that the process can go in reverse -- less democratic and more corrupt.

Certainly the DR still has a long way to go, but many nations in far worse shape and with far less positive prospects. In the 40 years since I first lived in the DR, much has been accomplished, but even more needs to be done. The danger of stagnating or slipping backwards is real, but don't wait for a miracle to happen. This is real li

Last line above was cut off. Should read: "This is real life."

It is sad to hear many hopefuls of Danilo. Im sure by now that people learned that these political parties are all the same. If Liarnel is a 1st rate crook, then what makes you think that the candidates from his party any different??? Have anybody ever heard "Birds of a feather flocks together"?? That is why such mentality keeps the country from moving forward.

Carpintero brings up an interesting question: “...is the development of a US-style two-party system here in the DR a good thing -- would multi-party system better (or less bad)?”

My observation has been that power for so long in the Dominican Republic has been concentrated among a few elite. This is dangerous in that it can lead to dictatorship by committee, via the party.

The current dominating parties may have opposing views concerning economic policy, foreign relations, domestic issues and so on, but they both are associated with corruption. Perhaps the rise of two or even three strong minor parties, representing passionate issues dear to their constituents, would either necessitate the establishment of a coalition government better representative of all segments of Dominican life; or would force the major parties to co-opt the issues and positions of the minors?

Seems like this will be the ONLY newspaper I'll be reading from now on. THERE ARE THINKING PEOPLE HERE. As an avid supporter of Danilo Medina, if I hear or see "Llegó Papá" one more time, I'm bound to shoot myself.

A couple of years ago when HM announced he'd be running for the presidency, I thought HE WAS JOKING! I saw him making appearances and going around the country but i thought he was just BORED. To think that he is THE candidate for the PRD is INSANE! To see people cheering him on as if those four years when he was president never ocurred is even MORE insane.

I've gotten to know Danilo, up close and personal. I've listened to his speech and what he proposes and there is just no competition. He's a very smart man who has a lot to offer. I hope Dominican Republic gives him the opportunity to be President.

As in the US, the biggest factor in next year's election will be the economy. If most voters are hurting, they'll vote out who ever is in in hopes that things will get better. Of course, the president doesn't have much control of the economy, but that doesn't stop people from blaming them if it goes bad. (What else can they do?) In both countries we need to hope that the economy improves for regular people over the next year or so. Otherwise we're in real trouble.

Walterpolo. ... when the egyptian people found out mubarak was the richest man on earth and beat out the saudis, queen of england even bill gates. ... do you think all of the citizens of the dr took notice? Rhetorical question, the people have not understood the scale of graft in their own land. ...