Ground war & bricks

IT was interesting to observe three wannabes all in Cebu on a Monday morning. There was a Vice President, a Senator and a Cabinet secretary (arranged according to mandate). Binay was with the people, market and barangay settings; Poe was with a gathering of students, youth at a university in Cebu while Roxas was again with elected leaders, aptly named, “Gathering of Friends.” That setting reveals to all observers the target voters they are courting and the problem of exclusivity.

Binay and Poe were strategic. Both cut the middle person (ward leaders or politicians). Binay was more of show than tell unlike Poe, who because of the setting, gave up on the chance to have a conversation with the youth. But Poe had the visual and the roar, good for media consumption. On the other hand, Roxas, since the anointment, always was pictured as talking to leaders, to mayors, governors, vice, etc. Never was there a setting of directly communicating with voters. Roxas kept and is still talking with politicians, apparently his ward leaders, a behavior associated with incumbents who have so many cash and projects to dish out. Roxas was not inclusive at all.