Voting [for Obama] via absentee ballot a few weeks back, my election day had already taken place but politics were in full swing in the territory. There were three parties running for governor of American Samoa this year and various groups vying for county representative spots in addition to three candidates running for American Samoa's [non-voting] seat in Congress. In the end, the gubernatorial election was too close to call and there will be a run off between the teams of Togiola/Faoa and Utu/Nua. I can't say much about the candidates since I have only been here a few months but their foot soldiers were out in force on election day.
An Utu supporter fraternizing with a Togiola supporter...scandalous.
One of my favorite candidates this season has been Fagatogo Steve. He is running for a county representative position and his signs have been up since I arrived on the island. Fagatogo is the village where the court is located so I have seen a lot of Steve propaganda. He also has a big blue truck that drives around with a giant "Fagatogo Steve" decal on it. In the States it'd be like a candidate calling himself Pasadena Jerry.
After months of anticipation I finally met Steve outside the court. He's the dude in the middle. Steve thought we were newspaper reporters and seemed genuinely disappointed when he found out we were just non-voting palagis. However, he did offer us one of the free lunches that he was giving out to his supporters.
Sad postscript: Steve lost.
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