A consultant to the Premier yesterday defended Ewart Brown against accusations of "divisive politics".

Rolfe Commissiong said Dr. Brown was only reflecting on voting statistics when he told the House of Assembly that if white Bermudians had voted in the US presidential election as they did in Bermuda, they would have picked Republican candidate John McCain.

The Premier said on Friday: "If you looked at the voting patterns in Bermuda, which all vote in lines, if whites in Bermuda were to vote in the US using the same lines, they would have voted for the other man (McCain)."

His remarks were criticised as "sad and pathetic" and "the worst kind of racial stereotyping" by Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons. Opposition Senate Leader Michael Dunkley then criticised Dr. Brown's comments, saying: "This is all about the Premier continuing his divisive brand of politics.

"Instead he should learn from President-Elect (Barack) Obama and his message of hope and not hate, in his desire to bring people together and not pull them apart."

Yesterday however, Mr. Commissiong said it was a reality of life in Bermuda that "the white community has voted as an identifiable racial block". He said up to 98 percent of the white population voted for the United Bermuda Party, with less than two percent voting for the Progressive Labour Party.

Mr. Commissiong described Dr. Gibbons' and Mr. Dunkley's comments as "disingenous".

"I thought the Premier's comments were fairly reasonable based upon his experiences of not only the Bermudian political scene but the American one as well," said Mr. Commissiong.

"From our experience in Bermuda, since Universal Adult Suffrage in the 1960s and the first election under that in 1968, Bermuda's white community has voted as an identifiable racial block.

"In any given election the UBP can count on about 98 percent or better of that white Bermudian vote, and this is confirmed from many statistical data and polling numbers in the last few elections. They show that usually before the vote takes place, three to five days prior, the PLP is polling 1.5 to 2 percent at best of the white Bermudian vote."

Mr. Commissiong said: "The challenge I pose to both Dr. Grant Gibbons and Mr. Dunkley is, is it healthy for a country that one racial group – in this case white Bermudians – continue to support one party? I don't think it is.

"Conversely, black Bermudians have been far more pluralistic and diverse in their choices. The UBP can't get 46 to 47 percent of the vote without having a significant number of black voters, anywhere from 23 to 24 percent, voting consistently for the UBP.

"So while we have seen in our history significant black support for a white Bermudian-dominated political entity (the UBP), we have never seen a swing of white voting support to the PLP. It is just amazing that in 2008, the only swing voters in Bermuda are black Bermudians. So within that context, Dr. Ewart Brown made those comments and I fully support them.

"If we are going to be able to diminish the influence of racial polarisation in politics – which is what we all want – we can only achieve that if we break this impasse, if we break this white voting behaviour."

Mr. Commissiong said: "I think Dr. Grant Gibbons and Mr. Dunkley are being very disingenous with regard to comments on the issue. With regard to the Barack Obama phenomena, Bermuda does not have a US Presidential system but a British Parliamentary one. In order for us to experience a phenomenon such as Barack Obama's win, we would need to have an election where the PLP wins and does so overwhelmingly, with at least ten to 15 percent of white voters supporting the PLP.

"We have never seen that in Bermuda's history and I think it would be very healthy for the country. It is something I hope does occur in the not-too-distant future. In my view it's long overdue.

"Wouldn't it be healthy in Bermuda if we had the white community voting in a more pluralistic fashion?"