Here's a map that shows the results of Sunday's votes in the governors races around the country. Those in red are Chavista Red. As you can see, they won all but 3 states!
Chavez's handpicked candidates were sent to each state about a week or so after he was elected on 7 Oct to begin their campaigns. Now, keep in mind that these candidates, for the most part, live in Caracas.....that's right, they don't even live in the states where they ran for election. But for the promise of a few trinkets, the Chavistas go to the polls and vote into office those who are promising the trinkets.
States here in this country have very little autonomy from the federal government. Chavez and Caracas run the show. Little by little the same thing is taking place in the US as more and more power is being transferred to Washington.
Those in the US who want their trinkets, and those who sit by and do nothing about it, will someday enjoy what Venezuela enjoys....total domination by the federal government.
Of course, per capita, the Venezuelan government has a lot more trinkets to give away than does the US.
Guess where those trinkets will come from?