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Park on charm offensive for centrist voters
Ruling Saenuri Party presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye smiles at a child in a stroller during her participation in the “With Baby Walkathon” event Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Saenuri Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye has targeted wooing middle-of-the-road voters regarding political tendency, those living in the central districts of the nation and people in their 30s and 40s for victory on Dec. 19.
These groups are seen as Park’s vulnerability and her election camp believes that effectively targeting them will be crucial.
The daughter of late President Park Chung-hee has attempted to attract moderate voters in pursuit of national unity since her primary victory.
Her visits to the grave of late President Roh Moo-hyun and to Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former liberal President Kim Dae-jung are part of her trying embrace voters who steer a middle course. However, the benefits from these moves in opinion polls were only temporary as Park has become embroiled in controversy over her father’s deeds.
Park’s camp view people and policies as key factors to win over middle-of-the-road voters who tend to favor independent Ahn Cheol-soo.
There are many calls for recruiting figures from the political center, rather than those regarded as conservatives. The Saenuri Party’s national integration committee chief vice chairman is Han Kwang-ok, former chief aide to late President Kim Dae-jung, is leading this move.
Policies to win the voters’ hearts and minds such as forward-looking policies on “economic democratization” and welfare will continue to be established.
Kim Chong-in, head of the committee to pursue people’s happiness, said, “In the past, the party was seen as only supporting the rich but you cannot see that kind of party anymore.”
Meanwhile, the ruling party’s decision to join with the minor conservative Advancement and Unification Party (AUP) is seen as a strategy to attract voters in Chungcheong Province, which is regarded to hold the casting vote. The region is the home turf of
the minority rightwing party.
The Saenuri Party has targeted the
central district around Chungcheong Province, including western part of
Gangwon Province and southern part of Gyeonggi Province. Election watchers say vote-getting abilities can be expanded in those regions in accordance with vote-landing tactics, compared to the Yeongnam region of the Geyongsang Provinces that has long been a conservative stronghold and the Honam region of the Jeolla Provinces, the liberal political force’s traditional power base.
Park’s camp is also attempting to lure voters in their 30s and 40s that account for 42.3 percent of the whole electorate. Those generations have been said to be a weakness for Park’s as many of them have progressive tendencies.
Insiders understand that, considering they tend to react sensitively to issues related to real life such as housing and education, Park could win them over if she suggests sensible policies regarding those issues.
In this regard, has Park recently been holding luncheons with people from those generations and attempting to communicate better with them.