BEING a political worker for three decades now, I have seen promising individuals eaten up by the very political system they want to serve. My window to the character of a leader is shaped in the trenches and not while they are in office. In office, winning candidates return to their old selves; unless I am so lucky as to have an authentic one, who brings his campaign plans to reality through public service.

New kids on the block seem to know it all with the way they loosely use words such as perception management, spin, message manipulation and that all are public relations jargon. That’s the problem with people who seem to learn a skill of two via social media and readily throw some advice or two online as if they have actually run a campaign. It is one thing to join a campaign and be part of the campaign. But to design, run and manage campaigns is entirely a different thing. As one The Manila Times colleague would say, these are political technocrats. I wonder where those who seem to drop terms loosely an overnight expert belong.

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