And off they go

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‘Moving forward, each and every day will now have to be a battle of conversion (or in the case of the frontrunner, keeping that support) which will have to be the deciding factor in deciding how the candidate moves in the next weeks.’

LAST Tuesday marked the start of the official campaign period for the national elections, where the clock starts counting down to the 90 days given to candidates and their teams leading up to the ultimate polls — election day. While each day in the campaign period is equally valuable, campaign teams put a lot of thought and effort into organizing Day 1, otherwise known as proclamation rallies. Rightly so, as one prefers to start with a bang instead of a whimper, knowing fully well that a great kick off will set the tone and vigor of your base for the rest of the season.

I was quite curious how the pandemic would change the way that candidates conduct their ground campaigns, given that the massive gatherings of old now pose a bigger health risk.

It seems I got the answer the other day: most candidates went with conventional thinking and opted to show mass and scale in their events, with the requisite drone shots to emphasize crowd size.

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You may laugh, dear millennials and fillennials, but the popularity of a candidate still influences a certain segment of voters, especially those who do not want to vote for a “sure” loser. A show of force is important in these milestone events (the second being the miting de avance) to create a bandwagon effect to rope in potential voters.

The possibility of a great narrative also comes into play when choosing the location of a proclamation rally. Again, most candidates will likely choose their own bailiwicks or home provinces. We saw this in the case of VP Leni Robredo (Naga), Senators Ping Lacson (Cavite) and Manny Pacquiao (General Santos) and Mayor Isko Moreno (Manila.) Only Bongbong Marcos Jr. opted to deviate from conventional wisdom and held his proclamation rally at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan instead of his home province.

The hometown connection is also tightly woven into their speeches, a retracing of their beginnings to create a shared feeling of being in the endeavor together. It is meant to be a call back to our tradition of sending off family and friends as they go off to conquer the world, with our support and best intentions. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Marcos Jr. went in another direction, to concentrate on pushing his “unity” message without having to draw from family history all too much.

Some observers have raised the possibility of Marcos Junior’s venue choice as a nod to court the endorsement of the Iglesia ni Cristo (who owns Philippine Arena.) I don’t necessarily agree with this, as venue rental is not a card you bring to the table when it comes to negotiating endorsements, unless you want to insult the other party or dazzle them with your dilettantish ways.

Overall, the candidates chose their venues well, and were able to project the level of support that they have on their respective corners as they all go off and try to emerge as the victor in the polls. Moving forward, each and every day will now have to be a battle of conversion (or in the case of the frontrunner, keeping that support) which will have to be the deciding factor in deciding how the candidate moves in the next weeks. Will attending event X contribute to conversion? Will this interview allow the candidate to get more votes?

Or conversely: will showing up cause harm to our numbers? Will this video instigate backlash? These questions, and many others, should be foremost on the minds of the campaign teams as they work their plan for the next 87 days.

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