By Lee Kyung-min
Televised debates among the five presidential candidates are becoming increasingly influential among voters, impacting opinion polls that reflect their performance the following day.
The past three televised debates held April 13, 19 and 23, influenced voters as contenders competed on diverse issues. People also showed keen interest in their speech mannerisms, facial expressions and body language.
All contenders experienced either ups or downs due to the debates.
Of the five, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party suffered major losses. He responded poorly to smear campaigns by getting unnecessarily defensive and asking rhetorical questions. Ahn also raised issues irrelevant to the moderator’s questions which voters deemed off putting.
According to a poll conducted from Monday to Wednesday by local pollster Realmeter of 1,520 adults, front runner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea had support of 44.4 percent of respondents, while Ahn garnered 22.8 percent. The survey had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Details of the survey are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.
The over 20 percentage point gap is in stark contrast to earlier surveys conducted prior to the debates, some of which assessed Ahn was closely trailing Moon almost within the margin of error.
The gap is painful for Ahn given that he had sweeping victories in his party’s six primaries, through which he was nominated as presidential candidate.
Unlike Moon, who has a staunch voter base, Ahn is much more vulnerable to losing votes from the centrist and center-to-conservative voter base, according to an observer.
“Ahn’s high ratings earlier came from those living in Chungcheong Province and those aged over 40 who were disappointed in conservative politicians following the influence-peddling scandal that removed former President Park Geun-hye from office,” said a veteran opinion poll analyst.
“Given that the People’s Party has the Jeolla provinces as its home turf, retaining support there while attracting those from the Gyeongsang provinces will be a tough challenge for him,” he added.
The same poll showed increases in support for the three minor candidates.
Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party stood in third place with 13 percent, up 2.5 percentage points; Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive Justice Party finished fourth with 7.5 percent, up 2.9 points; and Yoo Seung-min of the Bareun Party came in fifth with 5.4 percent, up 0.5 points.
Sim’s support increased sharply after Tuesday’s debate during which she scolded Moon for his controversial remark, “I don’t like homosexuality.”
His comment drew a fierce backlash from not only sexual minorities groups but also other “educated” people who do not hold “bigoted” views.
Minutes after Moon’s comment, Sim said that sexual orientation was not a matter up for debate over whether one approves or disapproves, because it was an identity.
She also said that even though she is heterosexual, she advocates that their rights and freedoms should be equally respected, because that’s how democracy works.
The fourth televised presidential debate is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m., and the fifth and final one, May 2.