In his Manila Times column today, former Ambassador Bobi Tiglao handily sums up the challenge the Opposition need to step up to in order to “whittle away” (in the words of The Noted One) the enormous lead of administration presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos. How to make the dumb Yellowtard presidential candidate appear smart? That is the million-dollar question.
It’s time Robredo pull the biggest feat of transformation of her career. She has, after all, gone through many wardrobe changes over the last several years and the time has come for the fat lady to sing (pardon the pun).
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To be fair, erasing the Dumb from her personal brand will be a monumental challenge, specially over such tight time frames. This is, after all, a perception that was many years in the making. There is no need to go into the detail to grasp the vast foundation of dumbness upon which the Robredo brand had been propped. Fundamental to all this is Robredo’s inability to string together a statement in straight English. This trait alone is the single biggest indicator of just how dismal her cognitive faculties are.
It gets worse. Robredo is surrounded by stupid people. This is evident in the incoherence and downright kabaduyan (campiness) of her campaign. To begin with, Robredo was dumb enough to allow a motley group of supporters to cobble together a “grassroots” campaign for her. One wonders if it was plain laziness to fail to step up to the role of Chief Architect of one’s own campaign or just a bad case of a total lack of vision or, at least some imagination, to apply to the craft of strategic planning. Whatever it is that was behind this massive failure of leadership, it is clear that Robredo oversaw an astounding amateurish desperate trial-and-error campaign management fiasco. That, folks, was dumb.
How then can DUMB be fixed in three months? Even if the Yellowtards had an infinite bucket of money to throw at this challenge, it is hard to imagine how such an untenable problem could be solved. No, it is not just untenable, it is an intractable problem. Perhaps if we translate that latter word to Tagalog, Robredo and her Yellowtard followers will be better able to grasp just what a big problem this is: hindi magkandaugaga. Plain and simple, there’s just no solution that adds up to solving the problem of just how stuck the dumb perception is to the Robredo political brand.
What then? How does one proceed from here? That’s a difficult question — probably a good one the next presidentiables interviewer should add to her list of questions to ask Robredo. There are a couple of guiding principles for a good interviewer — one who has the balls to ask those questions — to keep in mind when listening to Robredo explain what she plans to do in the remaining three months of the campaign:
(1) Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
(2) You cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that created it.
Does it take a “Peabody Award” or a Nobel “Peace Prize” to ask the right questions when interviewing politicians on a desperate campaign trail? Absolutely not.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
How the hell do you reverse a perception of being dumb in just three months?
Ganito…. ah … um…. kasi … ah …. Juan Luna please help me answer this question!
You can’t fix stupid. Move on.
How do you reverse a perception of being dumb?
Use your brain and stop believing fake news peddlers and ass-kissers (Arroyo and Duterte) like Rigoberto Tiglao. THAT is how.
I think the “dumb” stuck because of the wordplay “madumb”. Everyone makes a mistake in a live interview (especially if the questions aren’t forwarded in advance for the person to prepare).
I do think though that instead of being “dumb” that Leni doesn’t have a quick wit to work on the fly if “caught off guard” or the dialogue goes “off script” as it were. And this is where the problem will lie when it comes to diplomatic relationships if as president, the candidate is expected to be a statesman to take part in talks with other nations/leaders.
This could be compensated if you had a running mate who could “fill the gap/role”. But I don’t think Kiko has that as well. Tito Sen would have the better fit as he appears used to it with his stint in the Senate and as Senate President dealing with various “personalities” and their “wheelings and dealings”. That is if she were to win, she’d need Tito Sen to win as well for their to be some semblance of cohesion.
Lacson and BBM are also “mature” enough as statesmen with how they handle themselves publicly. Isko is still lacking in that department while Pacquiao just can’t be expected to be a statesman (though we can’t 100% be certain, he doesn’t appear to show it)
One strategy that Leni’s camp should do is have their team and supported just stop sharing “Marcos/BBM factoids/posts”. It isn’t helping them so why continue it? They believe it is helping to “fight disinformation” but the focus isn’t about disinformation and more about portraying their choice of candidate as the “holier than thou” candidate (the christened one). And that just doesn’t work, especially these days.
The more they share about Marcos/BBM, the more they propagate the candidate BBM, instead of Leni, right? So I see that it does more harm than good for their cause. I just believe they shouldn’t stop and don’t give it too much notice as they do now.
Pitches of Leni’s camp should focus not on us vs them. They should shift gears to just highlight plans/programs of what the hell they really want to do and just not compare with what the other candidates are doing. That way they don’t “appear” to be doing negative publicity against their opponents.
I don’t know. I think the general public is just tired of those types of (negative) campaigns and it isn’t working anymore. So why continue doing it?
Who cares if BBM didn’t attend an interview or what he did. They don’t need to highlight it. Focus on theirselves and elevate the discussion.
That’s my take on it.
I am tired of negative campaigning too but I care if someone didn’t attend the interview. Maybe I am in the minority but these people are job applicants right now and as all applicants they have an obligation to the prospective employers, which in this case, it is the people, who have the right to know what they are all about. They can all make all the infographics, video ads and posters but it’s best if it comes out of the horse’s mouth.
Honestly, all these candidates should stop the mudslinging now and keep focusing on what they want to do for this country and not for their party. It is sad to see that I am not seeing any and I am far from impressed. Basically proves this is a circus of tomfoolery and tomfuckery.
I agree with you as well.
What I was trying to go with the idea of the other candidates not making a big deal of BBM not attending the interview is because them not doing so makes it more to highlight it was his loss not theirs. The constant reminder that he was missing implies they needed him to be there. Hope that clears it up.
Personally didnt watch the Soho interview at all, just see what i stumble upon on my day to day. But from what I can see, there doesn’t seem to be anything of note that came out of it that you could highlight as a significant ‘reveal’ or plan/platform.
So i personally didn’t bother to care watching it since no one took anything from it, other than BBM was not there and Soho was called biased by BBM.
Right now, come election day i do believe it will still be a lesser evil vote instead of a greater good vote. Nothing has shown me that the winds have changed in that regard, yet.
Its not just about being dumb.
Its also about having a donkeyface that cant be trusted.
Ordinary people take one look at her and know shes up to no good.
The problem for leni is her donkeyface and her team running a total donkey show.
These fools never learn.
Fielding an unwinnable, sock puppet, make-believe candidate, over and over again.
It worked one time, cant fool the people again.
These fools never learn.
What a total donkey show.
And the opposition paid trolls are the dumbest of all.if youre paying for trolls, at least get the smart ones.
If I were to write a column about VP Robredo’s campaign strategy, it’s will no be about dumbness, for there is really no such thing, but about overconfidence.
Given the succeeding events that transpired since the time all candidates have filed their certificate of candidacy, I’m of the opinion that Leni Robredo assumed a Pollyanna stance vis-a-vis her supposed mano a mano battle with Bongbong Marcos. She thought it would be an easy picking running against Jr., whom she defeated narrowly in the vp race, that she allowed her volunteers to do what they want to do to push and promote her in the way they see fit. Result: Chaos and confusion.
Just look at some of the taglines, slogans or hashtags that came out in wild abandon in her campaign:
Kami si Leni
Husay at tibay, Dapat si Leni!
Leni Lugaw
Ina ng Bayan (juxtaposed with Digong’s Ama ng Bayan)
Haudoken video – street fighter game
LetLeni Lead
Gobyernong Tapat, Angat Buhay Lahat
Sus, Kakapagod at kakalito!
Erap got it with only one slogan “Erap para sa Mahirap!” Boom! Malacanang, here I come! Lol! ?
Contrary to benigno’s take, in all fairness, those are not signs of dumbness, those are signs of overweening stance, a mark of overconfidence through the roof that, unfortunately, boomerang because the lever of breaks was missing. How’s that?
Well, the campaign simply failed to anticipate the Sara Duterte factor when they were mobilizing their group in focusing on BBM. I’m sure they did not anticipate it because earlier Sara, as published and confirmed, was not keen on running for office other than the mayoralty seat of Davao City.
The strategy of projecting Leni as the Cory heir, the latest darling of the yellow world, running against the son of the former dictator who is now using the ill-gotten wealth they accumulated to return to power appeared to be just the right formula to defeat the son and bag the presidency.
And indeed it appears to be effective considering that nothing spectacular was happening on the side of BBM in terms of campaign defense or retaliation. BBM simply has no counter offense against the Leni tirades. All he can do, when posed with questions about his dad’s undoing, is smile his pretty boy face and smirk at the same time. That and, of course, the added attacks by Pres. Duterte against Jr. which initially gave hint that it might be a smooth sailing for the VP.
The same attack that added confidence to the VP was the same reason that put her campaign in shambles because the reason behind Digong’s attack on Jr. was the decision of his daughter, Sara, to run with him as his veep, practically rejecting her dad’s pleading to be Bong Go’s spare tire. Before the Sara inclusion, everything is going right in the Robredo campaign. Everything is rosy until Sara changed her mind.
That development clearly gave all the impetus that BBM necessarily need to bolster up his campaign to counter and withstand the Leni attack.
Fast forward to present, the messaging tactic of the Robredo campaign appears to remain in state of confusion and delusion. The incapability of her people to put up an effective message against ALL not only against BBM has backfired.
Is there time to recalibrate or to paraphrase benigno’s sly headings, “How the hell do you reverse a misplaced cockiness in just three months?”
There is still time but I’m afraid it is running short. ?