Little change in ratings despite Ahn support

By Kang Hyun-kyung

There is no doubt that eloquence, one of the critical factors that can make presidential candidates perform well in television debates, is a valuable asset.

Despite this, conventional election wisdom says that it’s not wise for candidates to put all their energy and priorities on these debates, and to expect that they could turn the tide if they do a good job there.

Viewer ratings of presidential debates are falling, indicating a general decline in voters’ interest in them. Plus, surveys found a good performance in a debate has no direct link with their support ratings.

Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye, her rival Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party (DUP) and minor Unified Progressive Party (UPP) candidate Lee Jung-hee faced off during the first presidential debate, exchanging barbs over their visions for foreign policy, North Korea and security of Northeast Asia.

The remaining four minor presidential candidates were not invited to the debate because they didn’t meet the conditions required for participation. Under the current law, candidates who secured 5 percent or higher poll ratings released or those representing a party having 5 or more parliamentary seats are eligible to participate in the TV debate.

Lee got the green light to participate in the debate as the UPP has six parliamentary seats.

Recent polls have found Park leading the presidential race with a widening gap against her rival Moon.

Coupled with Ahn Cheol-soo’s lukewarm attitude regarding his possible support for the main opposition DUP candidate, Moon’s falling support ratings are alarming his campaigners.

Unlike earlier expectations, Moon was not offensive and tried to focus on vision, not personal attacks, which seemed to be a tactic to instill voter confidence.

UPP candidate Lee, meanwhile, was aggressive during the entire debate. She exchanged barbs with Park, waging a war of words with the frontrunner candidate.

Pollsters said a good TV debate performance does not have a positive effect on ratings, the viewer numbers of which have continued to go down since the 1997 presidential election.

Then, the average viewer rating of the TV debate was some 50 percent, which was high considering that programs with a 40 percent viewership rating were considered very popular.

Five years later, the rate fell to the 30 percent range, followed by 20 percent in the 2007 presidential election.

The viewer rating of the debates between Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo held last month stood at 17.8 percent. Park Guen-hye’s solo forum aired about a week later drew 16. 1 percent.

The viewer rating of the first debate among the three candidates was not made public as of going to press.