It is a statement of fact that Presidential race in the United States will be decided by voters most concerned with the protection of their Social Security pensions.

The race for a new president of the United States is almost over, as voters go to the polls next week to set the political, economic and social tone of the country after eight years of the Democratic party rule.

Known by the media as the Prince of Texas -- to distinguish him from his president father -- King George (the Yanks still ready to take a poke at Britain 200 years after throwing off the yoke), George W. Bush and Al Gore are running close, tight, extremely aggressive campaigns by seeking every opportunity to exploit each other's political party (and personal) weaknesses.

To outsiders, these political races can be very amusing; the usual noble, lofty statements at the beginning of the campaign that `this will be a clean race', no slurs of any kind will ever be used, we are above mud-slinging. Fine words, indeed, until the end when the stakes to win become astronomical. Then fine words and damaging ads reach completely inverse proportions.

These two candidates will have spent in excess of $80 million each; chicken feed for presidential ambitions, other-wisely spent, that's food for thousands! In defence of this democratic system, it is argued that political campaigns are good for a local economy, close exposure to the relevant issues. Living for many years in New Hampshire, we saw these presidential aspirants `up close and personal'.

Every four years they used the first-in-the-nation voting state to test the waters by being black-fly bitten, mosquito-dive-bombed, snowed on, iced in and generally ignored by the local population.

Yes, I have stood less than five feet from Richard Nixon, Bob Dole, George Bush, Patrick Buchanan, Bill Clinton, and others forgotten before they became slightly deified; but somehow, not only were we not anointed by their presence, but many of these campaigners stiffed the local New Hampshire vendors when they left.

Try getting bill settlement from a disbanded fallen deity campaign.

Eventually, many months later, they eventually paid these vendors, but it didn't exactly inspire confidence in the fiscal soundness of that political aspirant. Soon, the word was out on campaign stumpers: Cash Only, upfront, please.

Concord, New Hampshire, the state capitol, is a small town of 35,000 people, sum total of 60,000 including the outlying areas. The habitants resemble Bermudians in many ways, pride of place, hard-working, concerned about education, many churches well attended.

The Republican and Democratic headquarters are situated on the Main Street across from the magnificent State Capitol building, golden dome and all.

However, sandwiched between these two headquarters was a tiny store that was the purveyor of unmentionables and had been so in that same location for at least twenty years.

It was barely tolerated by the Merchants Associations for good reason. When a window mannequin sported a dog-collar chain and not much else, which quite rightly provoked a storm of local protest, it was not enough to put the shop out of business.

And so without fail, every four years, many famous people, politicians, newscasters, dignitaries, etc. stood outside in the cold, improbably juxtaposed between the two headquarters and the unmentionable shop, making statements of fact or espousing on life's philosophies.

Somehow, this scene never failed to emphasise the superficial inanity of parts of the whole political process while at the same time, affirming the cornerstone of democracy, the protection of individual rights and the freedom of speech.

Millions are spent, lofty ideals are promoted but the average person, even globally, cares only about the basics. Again, it is a statement of fact that presidential race in the United States will be decided by voters most concerned with the protection of their Social Security pensions.

New Hampshirites are very independent, skeptical people; not much escapes them and not much impresses either. When you have to battle your way out of an unplowed driveway (snow) in a pickup truck (old) getting eight miles to the gallon to reach your job 20 miles away (no public transportation) paying $11 per hour (before taxes), your concerns are very basic.

Can I take care of my family now? Can I hang on to what I've got? Can I improve my position in life? Can I give my children more than I had? Will I have anything to retire on? Will there be a government pension when I get there? We Bermudians live in supposed idyllic times. We can draw the same parallels; substitute rainy congested roadways for snow, old car or bike for pickup truck, $70 dollars a week to fill the car tank, rent accelerating at an average of 15-20 percent per year, real wage average per person $15-$20 per hour, our concerns are the same. There is not much left over for a rainy day.

DEMOGRAPHIC TIME BOMBS Publicly funded pension programmes in most of the industrialised world are demographic ticking time bombs. As many more of us than ever before reach that `Golden Age'; as more of us figure out there won't be enough; as more of us take a look at our own personal retirement situation and realise that a government pension will be barely enough to put adequate food on the table, governments and politicians face a major dilemma and possible citizen backlash -- in the very near future.

The retired of today and the baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) right behind them, are the largest voting population block in the world. They continue to astound the medical establishment by living longer and longer. And you know what else, they are healthier, with the mind-set of 30-year olds and with their long memories. So, how are your pension plans doing? Pensions and power: Vice president All Gore, if successful in his run at the US presidency, will hold the fate millions of pensions in his hands.

Prince of Texas: George W. Bush, the Republican hopeful for the US presidency, has plans for pensions of millions of Americans. Globally, leaders of the western industrial democracies, including Bermuda, must face the demographic time bomb of aging baby boomers and subsequent demands on national pension schemes.