‘…a come-from-behind victory by Vice President Leni Robredo will be the sweetest type of victory in any form of competition. But this will mean that lightning has to strike Marcos twice.’
THE official campaign period ends in less than 48 hours for national as well as local elective positions. Today and tomorrow, the country will see an almost endless series of “miting de avance,” one last effort to get the supporters all worked up and ready for the all-important act of casting their ballots on Monday, May 9.
For the campaign managers it will be one last opportunity to make sure everything is in place — the get out the vote network, the poll watchers, the snacks for the poll watchers, even the snacks for those making the snacks for the poll watchers. It’s also the days when the campaign makes last minute decisions especially in a tight race — who to call, who to woo, whom to give the scarce resources.
Some campaigns in the past have collapsed on or about this day because the money has dried up and the momentum of one campaign appears to have swept its candidate into the lead.
If it’s not a close race, then one side will be riding some amount of euphoria and expectation, while the other will be struggling to hold the campaign together and the organization’s morale up.
The confident ones will be thinking “what’s next?” while those who will begin to feel defeat in their bones will be thinking “what now?” The former will be tired and drained but on cloud 9; the latter will be tired and drained and penniless and depressed.
In basketball I’ve always found it easier to deal with a defeat if my team is defeated by a wide margin; defeats by a point or two, especially those made by the opposite team at the last second, hurt the most.
I imagine the same applies to elections. And I imagine that former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not wish to go through all that again.
If surveys are to be believed, he will be saved from that experience this time around. And maybe by the 11th or 12th of May he could already start focusing on his “what’s next,” which is putting together his Cabinet.
On the other hand, a come-from-behind victory by Vice President Leni Robredo will be the sweetest type of victory in any form of competition. But this will mean that lightning has to strike Marcos twice. Which doesn’t seem likely, again if surveys are to be believed. But many of the VP’s loyal supporters have taken on the never-say-die attitude of one professional basketball club, and believe in their heart of hearts that victory is theirs — provided they’re not robbed of it.
My kakampink friends are sure that “What now” is not theirs to ask of themselves by May 10.
Two full days till the end of the campaign, three full days before we wake up to Election Day and cast our votes for the leaders we think we need.
Then we sit back, wait, and maybe also prepare to ask of ourselves either “what’s next?” or “what now?”s
