Hillary Clinton has got the thumbs up from Dubbo residents but time will tell if she gets her hands on the keys to the White House.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A year of campaigning for the presidency of the United States of America (US) by Mrs Clinton and her rival Donald Trump is in its final hours.
The battle between the the Democrat with a political pedigree and the Republican billionaire has been played out in homes across Australia. On Tuesday Dubbo businessmen, residents and federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton were asked by the Daily Liberal to select the best candidate for the position of leader of the free world.
Real estate agent Bob Berry gave his opinion interspersed with laughter. “I think for safety sake and the family association I’d like to see Hillary Clinton be the president rather than the other gentleman,” he said.“I think if she is elected we can all go back to our day jobs and forget about America. And if Donald Trump is elected I probably won’t get a visa to enter the US.”
Matt Wright, a mortgage broker who doubles as president of Dubbo Chamber of Commerce, suggested Mr Trump’s “far-out ideologies” made the world nervous and if he won there could be “some volatility in the financial markets”. If Mrs Clinton triumphed it would be “a much more pleasant outcome for the rest of the world”, Mr Wright said.
Virginia Carter, a proud supporter of conservative politics, didn’t mix her words. “The scary fact is one of them will win,” she said. But Mrs Clinton was a “switched-on lady” and the Dubbo resident’s preferred candidate. “Then again Trump.. is a successful businessman. You can’t take that away from him,” she said.
Mr Coulton said the federal government would “work with either candidate” as the US and Australia were “intrinsically linked”. Personally, he was concerned about Mr Trump’s protectionist leanings that could put Australian businesses and exporters at risk.
On Tuesday afternoon bookmakers were offering $1.22 for Mrs Clinton and $4.25 for Mr Trump. Mr Coulton expects the result will be “much closer”.
