By Kim Tong-hyung
Presidential contenders Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in are being portrayed in an overwhelming negative light as they continue to duke it out in the nastiest campaign in recent memory. The camps criticize each other for making increasingly personal attacks but both also claim they can’t afford to be passive in the face of onslaughts.
There is no doubt that the stauncher backers of Park, the conservative candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Moon, opposition challenger from the Democratic United Party (DUP), would prefer their candidates to show some fighting spirit when their opponents are on the attack.
However, it’s likely that the outcome of the Dec. 19 ballot will be determined by not only the ability of candidates to galvanize traditional supporters, but also their talent for attracting new ones.
The premature departure of popular independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo from the race assures that undecided voters will have a larger say in this presidential election than perhaps ever before. However, striking low blows, conducting smear campaigns and indulging in apocalyptic talk might not be the best way to win them over.
It would be advisable for Park and Moon to think about how Ahn became such a significant player in the first place.
It is just over a week since he tearfully withdrew from the race after the talks to merge his candidacy with Moon’s ultimately fell through. However, it seems almost as if he never left because the public’s unwavering support for the computer software guru and former Seoul University professor means that neither Park nor Moon is in full control of their destiny yet.
Both Park and Moon believe that the ability to absorb Ahn’s disgruntled supporters will be critical in deciding which of them becomes Korea’s most powerful individual.
The point they seem to be missing is that despite his immense popularity, Ahn didn’t represent any specific political value or vision, but merely fed off the public’s profound frustration with mainstream politics.
Despite the immense amount of ink and electrons spent on media coverage of Ahn, he still remains a political enigma: There is not a soul in Seoul who can explain with any certainty what he stood for and what sort of leader he would have been.
His time in the political arena was mostly characterized by a tendency to remain coy and flip-flop over issues of vital concern. It took until late September for him to announce that he was running for president. He also dragged the public into a quagmire of uncertainty by switching his negotiations with Moon on and off until they ran out of time before the candidate nomination deadline.
Ahn is quick to point out that Korea has a lot of problems. But ask him how he would fix these, and his response is usually some variation on the theme of ''doing a good job.’’ All he needed to do was to yelp about ''new’’ politics, whatever that meant, and a large portion of the public were ready to hand him the keys to the nation for the next five years.
For a country that appears to be teetering on the brink of public discontent, as working class families face a disastrous vortex of stagnant income, unemployment and spiraling debt, it’s mindboggling that somebody as vague and apparently unprepared as Ahn embodied hope for so many voters. This illuminates the next-to-zero lack of trust they have in the Saenuri Party or the DUP.
It’s safe to say that Ahn’s popularity was driven by hatred and cynicism of mainstream politics. Now with Ahn retreating into the background, most of his supporters are reprising their roles as haters and cynics.
Moon’s campaign strategists express confidence about eventually absorbing Ahn’s disgruntled and disillusioned supporters. But they might not be able to convert as many as they would like.
By announcing his withdrawal, Ahn offered only lukewarm support toward Moon and bemoaned the fact that his dreams of a new politics have faded temporarily. Ahn’s vision of new politics would clearly stand a chance of if he were calling the shots at Cheong Wa Dae. So far though, he hasn’t shown much urgency to break his mini-hiatus since leaving the race and back Moon at rallies.
Moon is desperate to attract Ahn’s supporters. So is Park because Ahn’s track record as a successful businessman has made him just as popular with conservatives and liberal voters. But exchanging verbal barbs and further polarizing a nation already split by years of partisan politics probably isn’t the right way to go at it.
Moon clearly has more to lose as it was Park who had been favored in a three-way race. His zealous attacks at Park may come at the cost of sullying the image of himself he wants to promote ― a candidate with a plan and passion for change.
Ahn’s supporters would also be sarcastic about Park, who prefers to talk more about the ineptitude of late President Roh Moo-hyun, who preceded the current president and her Saenuri Party alumni Lee Myung-bak, who is now as popular as gout.
So keep the discussions focused on the frail economy, the erosion of living standards, specific plans to ease inequality without hurting growth, and the elimination of featherbedding in politics and bureaucracy. And leave dead presidents alone.