Tweet
The heat of politics
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, June 18, 2007
Last week pollster Don Anderson told us that the majority of Jamaicans thought the country was moving in the wrong direction. However, that same poll gave the PNP under Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller a 55 per cent positive rating compared to a 46 per cent rating for the JLP under Bruce Golding, and the PNP a 4 per cent lead at the polls.
Jean Lowrie-Chin
This is continuing to be a close race because we have two exceptional party leaders, each with her/his own distinctive style. A visitor to a recent political meeting featuring the PM told me that the air was electric and that she had the audience hanging on her every word. A hug and a kiss from Portia left my level-headed friend almost drunk with infatuation.
Then at the PSOJ economic seminar earlier this month, Bruce Golding was loudly applauded for his strong, well-researched presentation. Corporate Jamaica has been commenting favourably on Bruce Golding's intellectual discourse and statesmanlike delivery.
Two interesting episodes arrested our attention recently. First, the shock announcement that beauty queen Lisa Hanna would be representing South-East St Ann for the PNP, and second the belated admission by the JCF that Bob Woolmer was not murdered, but had died from natural causes.
A writer to the press asked how a constituency could have rejected the leadership of attorney-at-law and tourism minister par excellence Aloun Assamba, ostensibly because she was not from that area, yet support an outsider Miss Hanna. It is just not adding up.
Last Tuesday came the announcement from the JCF that international pathologists had found that Bob Woolmer had not been murdered, but had died of natural causes. The news reached the lead web pages on the internet, including CNN and the New York Times. We are still mystified as to why there was such a sudden rush to judgment over a matter that could cause inestimable damage to Jamaica's reputation.
On April 2, this column carried an interview with Pakistani-Jamaican Tariq Malik who had early information on the death, and declared, "I don't believe for one second that Woolmer was murdered."
However, while we have to agree that this was a botched job, it is unfair to say that Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields made the hasty announcement to gain international attention. If he had waited till he got a second opinion, he would have had just as much worldwide publicity and no risk of this massive embarrassment.
In another make-good attempt, we saw on the news an effort to comfort disgruntled South-East St Ann PNP activists. There on tv was their venerable former MP Seymour Mullings, cordially receiving Lisa Hanna at his home.
You have to hand it to the PNP. They know how to close ranks over even the most unpopular of decisions. When the prime minister first announced her choice of candidate, there were whisperings that her presidential opponents would never have done such a thing. Then came the big headline: "PJ supports Lisa". Now the story making the rounds is that the former PM called his great friend and said, "Foggy, let's not make a bad decision worse. Let us rally round the beauty queen."
Could the stubbornness of the authorities in accepting the opinions of the overseas pathologists have come for the same reason: "Let's rally round the wrong call because admission will make us look worse."
The intransigence of the police, even to the point of promising to name suspects, has taken a terrible toll on their reputation. Only time will tell if this move to foist Lisa Hanna on the people of South-East St Ann, could have a similar effect on the PNP.
There are two factors which our politicians should bear in mind as they roll out the last weeks of their campaigns. With the expansion of non-traditional media, people are not getting their news from the usual places anymore. Who would have thought that the light-hearted IRIE-FM would have unseated the venerable newshound RJR 94? People's opinions are being heavily influenced by dancehall lyrics, talk shows and of course those super-charged political meetings.
The other factor is the cell-phone revolution. As fast as you can say "hello", calls and text messages are criss-crossing the country. Meetings that used to take days to organise can now take a few hours. Opinions are being formed, informed and reformed, reputations are being destroyed or bolstered, rumours are morphing into fact and fact is being challenged by fiction. The opportunities to propagandise for the good or the bad are literally endless.
It is therefore focused, strategic thinking and sheer hard work that is going to win this election. Broadcast advertising must now include cable channels, and door-to-door canvassing remains critical. The more supporters can say, "No it's not true, I talk to Mr Brown myself this morning," the more credibility will be gained.
In the communications business, media monitoring and quick response is key. Any political party that allows rumours on a talk show to become fact on the ground is not managing its image. Good media relations are a must. Any political party that feels it must attack the messenger when it does not like the message is digging its grave.
And remember that old saying: "Laugh and the world laughs with you - cry, and you cry alone?" It is the politician that exudes good health and good humour, is light-hearted and quick-witted, that has traditionally won over the people. How to lighten up when the fear of defeat hangs heavily? Ah, that's why it takes a very special person to take the heat of politics.
lowriechin@aim.com
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, June 18, 2007
Last week pollster Don Anderson told us that the majority of Jamaicans thought the country was moving in the wrong direction. However, that same poll gave the PNP under Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller a 55 per cent positive rating compared to a 46 per cent rating for the JLP under Bruce Golding, and the PNP a 4 per cent lead at the polls.
Jean Lowrie-Chin This is continuing to be a close race because we have two exceptional party leaders, each with her/his own distinctive style. A visitor to a recent political meeting featuring the PM told me that the air was electric and that she had the audience hanging on her every word. A hug and a kiss from Portia left my level-headed friend almost drunk with infatuation.
Then at the PSOJ economic seminar earlier this month, Bruce Golding was loudly applauded for his strong, well-researched presentation. Corporate Jamaica has been commenting favourably on Bruce Golding's intellectual discourse and statesmanlike delivery.
Two interesting episodes arrested our attention recently. First, the shock announcement that beauty queen Lisa Hanna would be representing South-East St Ann for the PNP, and second the belated admission by the JCF that Bob Woolmer was not murdered, but had died from natural causes.
A writer to the press asked how a constituency could have rejected the leadership of attorney-at-law and tourism minister par excellence Aloun Assamba, ostensibly because she was not from that area, yet support an outsider Miss Hanna. It is just not adding up.
Last Tuesday came the announcement from the JCF that international pathologists had found that Bob Woolmer had not been murdered, but had died of natural causes. The news reached the lead web pages on the internet, including CNN and the New York Times. We are still mystified as to why there was such a sudden rush to judgment over a matter that could cause inestimable damage to Jamaica's reputation.
On April 2, this column carried an interview with Pakistani-Jamaican Tariq Malik who had early information on the death, and declared, "I don't believe for one second that Woolmer was murdered."
However, while we have to agree that this was a botched job, it is unfair to say that Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields made the hasty announcement to gain international attention. If he had waited till he got a second opinion, he would have had just as much worldwide publicity and no risk of this massive embarrassment.
In another make-good attempt, we saw on the news an effort to comfort disgruntled South-East St Ann PNP activists. There on tv was their venerable former MP Seymour Mullings, cordially receiving Lisa Hanna at his home.
You have to hand it to the PNP. They know how to close ranks over even the most unpopular of decisions. When the prime minister first announced her choice of candidate, there were whisperings that her presidential opponents would never have done such a thing. Then came the big headline: "PJ supports Lisa". Now the story making the rounds is that the former PM called his great friend and said, "Foggy, let's not make a bad decision worse. Let us rally round the beauty queen."
Could the stubbornness of the authorities in accepting the opinions of the overseas pathologists have come for the same reason: "Let's rally round the wrong call because admission will make us look worse."
The intransigence of the police, even to the point of promising to name suspects, has taken a terrible toll on their reputation. Only time will tell if this move to foist Lisa Hanna on the people of South-East St Ann, could have a similar effect on the PNP.
There are two factors which our politicians should bear in mind as they roll out the last weeks of their campaigns. With the expansion of non-traditional media, people are not getting their news from the usual places anymore. Who would have thought that the light-hearted IRIE-FM would have unseated the venerable newshound RJR 94? People's opinions are being heavily influenced by dancehall lyrics, talk shows and of course those super-charged political meetings.
The other factor is the cell-phone revolution. As fast as you can say "hello", calls and text messages are criss-crossing the country. Meetings that used to take days to organise can now take a few hours. Opinions are being formed, informed and reformed, reputations are being destroyed or bolstered, rumours are morphing into fact and fact is being challenged by fiction. The opportunities to propagandise for the good or the bad are literally endless.
It is therefore focused, strategic thinking and sheer hard work that is going to win this election. Broadcast advertising must now include cable channels, and door-to-door canvassing remains critical. The more supporters can say, "No it's not true, I talk to Mr Brown myself this morning," the more credibility will be gained.
In the communications business, media monitoring and quick response is key. Any political party that allows rumours on a talk show to become fact on the ground is not managing its image. Good media relations are a must. Any political party that feels it must attack the messenger when it does not like the message is digging its grave.
And remember that old saying: "Laugh and the world laughs with you - cry, and you cry alone?" It is the politician that exudes good health and good humour, is light-hearted and quick-witted, that has traditionally won over the people. How to lighten up when the fear of defeat hangs heavily? Ah, that's why it takes a very special person to take the heat of politics.
lowriechin@aim.com