Miguel Angel Sandoval
It is a provocative title and I hope it provokes reflection, since at election time many magicians appear and a wide territory for magic formulas. It is not difficult to hear communication experts say that an election is won if there is a beautiful song, or an attractive slogan. There is a small percentage of reason in it because a catchy little song can do something, in the same way as a nice slogan, but it is necessary to be a little more serious.
A well-done little song, to enter the taste of the people, should saturate the country’s radio stations, be heard morning, noon and night, every day of the campaign, and only then would it have the attention of many people. The same with an advertising slogan. Only the effect of the accumulated, repeated, is what allows something to be known. The rest is an expert lie.
Here is another topic that is supposed to be part of the tools of a successful campaign. It’s financial. Just thinking about the cost of a spot on radio or TV can allow us to understand the figures in millions that it is necessary to count to be able to schedule advertising during campaign times, in addition to the times most sought after by the audience. It is no coincidence that the parties with the most resources play the electoral music, the slogans and the faces of the candidates. Here, the claw with which traditional politicians defend private advertising rather than financing by the State, as occurs in other countries, is notable.
But what cannot be seen superficially is the organizing work in the entire country. This is something I wrote in another article published these days. This is the case of a progressive party that as an electoral bet starts with 50 forms for mayor, in a country where there are 340 municipalities. It is obvious that this says about the results that can be achieved. Next, there is the topic of voting day. If there are only 50 lists for mayor, it would seem normal to infer that there is only organization in 50 municipalities, and following this reasoning, there will be table prosecutors in 50 municipalities, or less. And with that it is really an act of magic to prevent someone from misusing the votes of that political force. Or in these conditions it is difficult to allege fraud if there was no one to count the votes.
All these issues touched only in passing in a very superficial way, are the data that in any circumstance must be analyzed when looking at the results of the elections in a country like ours. As an example, if a party competes in 300 municipalities and another in 50, the result must favor the party that has a job in 300 municipalities. While the one who has organizational work only in 50 can not expect miracles.
But these are purely quantitative aspects. Other issues are missing. It is the case of who is socially known and who is not. It is the advantage that a character like former President Morales had, who for a program of dubious quality but which had been on the air for years on open TV channels, was someone known in the most remote towns. I do not discuss here his proposals, his alliances, his financiers, his scarce work, etc. Just the fact of being someone known at a time of widespread rejection of the country’s political figures. Therefore, in part, the results of it. Under these conditions, the situation for the progressive forces, generally marginal, without financial resources, without organization in most regions of the country, cannot expect favorable results, as with a magic wand.
Everything listed, without even mentioning all the patronage package that is used in electoral processes. T-shirts, caps, food bags, sheets, cash, job control in farms, companies, municipal governments, and a long etcetera. And if the role of electoral, justice or repressive institutions is added, then the magic ends. I think of the cancellation of parties and candidates in a whimsical, illegal, undemocratic way. We saw it in 2019 and now in 2023, although we had already seen it.
This is what allows us to affirm that magic does not exist in elections, since what there are are objective factors that are far beyond the magical thoughts of some party leaders or cadres who expect miracles instead of doing grassroots work during years and years. This is a call to reflection, to analysis, that allow us to understand what the electoral process is built on and all the engineering that goes into its development.
It is not shouting in a square, and saying that the progressives are the best and the most worthy. The reality is different and much more complex. It is about positioning issues on the national agenda, fighting in all spaces on a daily basis, building bridges, building alliances, as a way of doing politics, and not only in the 60 or 90 days that the electoral process lasts. That is why we will see the results, soulless and without magic, in a little over a month. It will be the punishment for the absence of grassroots work, organization, real party structures, resources of all kinds and legal maneuvers, spurious, but exercised from power.
