THE CAMPAIGN

First-World Techniques, Third-World Setting

The X-Men: The Story of Activists-Turned-Political Consultants

With a Little Help from (U.S.) Friends

Campaigning, Filipino Style

Spinning the News

Campaigns on the High-Tech Road

Songs in the Key of Politics

PHOTO ESSAY

The Presidency as Image

ELECTION PERSPECTIVES

Elections are like Water

Between Tinsel and Trapo

The Enigma of the Popular Will

VOTER'S VOICE

First-time Voter

Regular Voter

Non-Voter

Hope and Elections in Payatas

THE LIGHTER SIDE

Making (Non)Sense of Politics

Election Lexicon

Quickie Quiz for the Politically Insane

LOVE. It is a strange word to evoke in a political campaign. But the presidents with the best-crafted images suited to the times have also .been those who 'were loved the most.

Abaya, who is also involved in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's presidential campaign, says there are three requisites for a successful candidate: awareness (meaning voters know that candidate is in the race), conviction (they believe in what he or she stands for), and endearment. The last is the most elusive. "Kailangan may kurot sa puso (He or she should be able to touch your heart)," he says.

In a sense, it can be said that the history of presidential elections has been a history of the quest for the man or woman who best answers the needs of the time. Those who became president embodied the fantasies or aspirations of a particular era, a particular moment in history. Candidates and their image makers respond to these as best as they can by projecting images that voters are likely to find appealing. Thus, the deliberate projection through the mass media of archetypes that are rooted in culture and history.

The process, however, is an interactive one, involving both image makers and the recipients of that image. While certainly there is room for manipulation, the process is two way and mutually reinforcing. Even the most clever image makers can only go so far.

But in the end, it does not seem to matter much if the public is made aware of the image-making process in politics. Journalists make a living by reporting on political extravaganzas pretending to be hard news - the photo-op, the press conference, the privilege speech. Some opinion-makers feel it's their duty to point out how so much energy and money goes into creating these pseudo-events. But the "squandering" of funds and airtime on these manufactured events has become part of "reality" and are reported as part of the "events" themselves. Just like the medals in the Marcos museum in Ilocos. Everyone knows they're fake, yet there they are, carved out of solid gold. A political pseudo-event is both real and not real -- Image itself becomes the reality.

"It's sad that voters will not appreciate candidates who are not charismatic, who don't have a strong media presence, who are not appealing," says German. "There are good candidates who have experience, expertise, a platform, and a vision but they cannot communicate well or they don't have media presence, They don't stand a chance, Voters go for charisma, and those already on television and the cinema screen have the edge as far as this is concerned, That's why it's become a battle of charisma and popularity. Sadly."