By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
There are growing calls for a public awareness campaign aiming at placing policy at the center of the presidential campaign so that it can influence voters’ behavior on election day.
However, it is too early to assert that the growing interest will make a difference in December’s presidential election, mainly because the public still shows a lukewarm attitude toward the policy-oriented campaign.
According to AGB Nielsen Media Research, a combined TV rating of the first round of policy debates of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) stood at only 4.9 percent. The debate was televised by three television networks.
``The role of media is important and the press should run more coverage on policy issues in the future so the public is inspired to take deep interest in elections,’’ said Professor Park Se-il of Seoul National University.
Politicians running for public office are likely to feel more pressure than ever before as the campaign environment has become more complex with an increasing number of players joining campaign watchdogs.
Civic watchdogs are monitoring and assessing candidates’ pledges and think tanks are producing policy guidelines for politicians.
``The primary goal of our think tank is to help voters choose the right leader in the presidential election,’’ Park said in an interview with The Korea Times late last week. He serves as chairman of the Hansun Foundation for Freedom and Prosperity.
``The key difference between the civic groups and our activities is that we are producing guidelines for the leaders so that they can look at it for their policy package,’’ he said.
Park said his think tank seeks to raise public awareness to eliminate populist candidates from the race so that the nation’s politics does not fall prey to power struggles after the election.
Political pressure also comes from the private sector as well as from civic groups and think tanks.
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, a nonpartisan organization in the United States, has launched a public awareness campaign _ Strong American Schools _ aimed at ``elevating education to the top of the list of the presidential campaign.’’
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest donors sponsoring the education movement and it has provided grant funding for the campaign.
The nonpartisan group uses various modern campaign tactics to keep the focus on education.
``Republican, democrat, independent, green. No matter who you will be voting for next year, there is only one choice for our nation’s future. Education.,’’ said the most recent advertisement that appealed to Americans to vote for the best presidential candidate in the 2008 presidential election.