Noynoy needs more fire in his belly

If only Noynoy had more fire in his belly than smoke in his lungs, he wouldn’t have lost his hefty lead over Manny Villar in the presidential race. The problem with Noynoy is that he seems to exude a sense of entitlement to the position… he seems detached which explains what looks like a lack of enthusiasm in his campaign style. Worse, his handlers seem to be infected with the same problem. Ika nga… parang may kayabangan.

Manny Villar, on the other hand, is on a charm offensive, visibly hungry for the position and using everything he has to take the leadership position in the race. Villar and his handlers are also showing efficiency and professionalism in managing the campaign. An election after all, is won not just by the best of intentions but by a well thought out and executed campaign strategy.

Some enthusiastic Noynoy supporters are comparing him to Obama but they are wrong. While it is true that Noynoy like Obama has attracted a lot of idealistic people hungry for change and clamoring for decency in public service, Obama had an excellent campaign organization that did things in a timely manner. They carefully monitored ever changing voter sentiment and responded quickly.

I noticed, for instance, that Noynoy’s communications handlers did not take advantage of the time before the official start of the campaign to have more media commercials to cement the emotional tie of their candidate to the voters. And from what I hear, it is not because they didn’t have enough money. They had the funds but were apparently reluctant to spend. Worse, what little they had seem to be off-strat.

On the other hand, Villar and even Dick Gordon and specially Gibo are all over town with their messages. The poll results this week is therefore not surprising. The political amateurs handling Noynoy should have realized that campaign funds rise and fall with the poll numbers. If they invested what money they had over the last two months in a massive media campaign with a single-minded message against corruption, that would have boosted their poll numbers and the money spent more than replenished by eager donors.

The thing with sagging poll numbers is that it is difficult to bring it up again after the messages of rivals have sunk in. Now that the poll numbers of Noynoy and Villar have come closer, it would be more difficult for Noynoy to break away again specially because the emotional link with Tita Cory and her death has started to dissipate.

It does not help that some Noynoy supporters keep on complaining about Villar’s billions being spent on the campaign. That’s a given from the start, something they should have prepared for. For all we know, Villar is telling the truth that the only reason it seems he is spending a lot is because he knows how to spend his money efficiently.

I have heard that Villar has locked up the prime time spots equivalent to what is allowed by the Comelec and was merely using a lot of bonus spots before the official campaign period started. I am afraid that once Noynoy’s handlers decide to buy media spots, they would find themselves relegated to non prime times.

I still believe that the good versus evil (anti corruption) theme of the Noynoy candidacy is their strongest message and should have been more creatively exploited to keep his poll numbers up. I have yet to be convinced Noynoy and his handlers know what they are doing. I hope and pray that they do. They need to spell out how much corruption is costing the nation, why it is the cause of poverty and why we are in this rut.

Noynoy’s campaign needs to reach out to former supporters who started having doubts about him. People like them are already presold to Noynoy and just need to be reassured. We need to increase the gap between Noynoy’s and Villar’s numbers again. Anything less than 51 percent support in the poll numbers endangers his hoped for victory.

Once more with feeling… unless we see the fire in Noynoy’s belly soon, he may end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. –Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star)