GNP Hopefuls Target Netizens
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
With 20 days to go before the party nomination, leading presidential hopefuls of the Grand National Party (GNP) are seeking ways to boost their popularity in the remaining primary period.
Their strategies are two-fold: One is to polish their campaign slogans; the other to attract the hearts and minds of young Internet users.
The change in strategies came after the two contenders pledged not to pursue mutually destructive negative campaigning against each other after the media frenzy over the Korean hostages in Afghanistan.
The calculation that the two contenders' continuing negative campaigning could result in backlash from voters seemed to lead them to make changes in their strategies.
A recent JoongAng Ilbo poll found the difference in approval ratings between Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye has narrowed to 6.6 percentage points, which is a 0.5 percentage point decrease from the survey conducted two weeks ago.
Despite the dwindling difference in popularity, which appears negative for Lee, the latest poll saw his approval ratings among GNP delegates on the up.
The same poll said the ratios of rival Park are going in the downward direction.
A poll conducted on July 8 said the former Seoul mayor had a 47.9 percent approval rating in the survey, while the former party chairwoman's ratio stood at 42.3 percent.
The poll results contradicted the widely held perception that Lee is the favorite among voters overall while Park is more popular among the GNP delegates.
Lee's camp argued that the widening preference gap among the party affiliates said the former Seoul mayor is positioned very well before the primaries as he leads the surveys conducted on two different voter groups of party affiliates and general citizens.
Close aides of Lee sharpened the slogan of ``Lee can make it'' by stressing his economy-first image and claiming he is the one who has the capability to beat the liberal camp candidate on the presidential trail.
Political strategists of rival Park Geun-hye's camp reacted ``Lee will lose it'' in the light of the vulnerability he has shown over the past years.
They refrained from attacking Lee over property issues. Close aides of Park emphasized her leadership experiences in Cheong Wa Dae while acting as first lady when her mother was shot; in the GNP as party chairwoman and in the National Assembly as lawmaker to support that she deserves to be an alternative candidate.
As the primaries are nearing, the two camps seek to woo more Internet users.
The two contenders run three Web sites.
Frontrunner candidate Lee Myung-bak opened an English Web site last week to help foreign correspondents and media cover the presidential candidate and promote his image as a global leader.
The online site offers English press release and details of his flagship pledge of the in-land canal project. It is the first of its kind among the presidential contenders.
The former Seoul mayor campaign has run an official Web site and an online community which welcomes Internet users to propose their policy suggestions.
The online policy community was geared at attracting more young voters to the camp.
Park Geun-hye runs three Web sites. Park's camp said her Web site marked the highest number in terms of Web site visitors, marking 6.2 million people.