We were all candidates at one point in our lives. Courtship is an intense, romantic campaign to win another person’s heart. School is an endless series of candidacies—culminating in an onstage ceremony to receive a diploma as a seal of approval. Remember your first job interview? You were a nervous wreck, just like most candidates are these days. The difference is that there will always be a next job interview, but for an elective position, a candidate’s political fortune is decided in a single day by millions of potential employers.
Campaigning for political office, whether national or local, is not for the weak-kneed, onion-skinned variety of mortals.
I remember being verbally whacked by a more aggressive political rival (hey, Atty. Lorna P. Kapunan, I miss you!) during one of the senatorial debates in 2016. It happens to the best of candidates. I think the topic then was about divorce, for which I was against, and the feisty Lorna was very much in favor of. Her quick wit obliterated my tame, if not rather timid answer. The next morning, the sun was up, I had to shake off the blues from a less than ideal debate performance. Because when you are a candidate, you always, always show up.
I ran as a senatorial candidate in 2010 under the Villar-Legarda presidential ticket, and once again in 2016, with five presidential bets adopting me as their senatorial candidate. Both instances I lost though the second try yielded much better results in terms of awareness and actual votes. Despite such losses, I would never ever trade these two runs for any other life experience. Running as a candidate is a journey into one’s self, a daily SWOT analysis of personal capability. I thought myself to be an extrovert but I wasn’t really because like a turtle, I felt safer within my shell. I couldn’t for the life of me prance, dance or fake any stance on stage. I knew I would make a good senator but I had to win first. Winning comes with a hefty price tag and near-unlimited political ability. My entire senatorial campaign in 2016 may have cost much less than a monthly political PR and advertising budget of the wealthiest candidates.
Having been twice a national candidate, I am familiar with the monumental challenges associated with waging a credible campaign. Let us look kindly upon those brave enough to throw their proverbial hats in the ring. American President Theodore Roosevelt said it best: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
I salute those who decided to file their certificates of candidacy because they felt compelled to contribute to our great nation. Where would our democracy be without these warriors? For those who filed their certificates knowing that an uphill battle is likely the biggest understatement of the year, I offer a sincere apology. Life is never fair, and most voters find it inconvenient to get to know the unknowns, unless fit to be skewered and scorned via social media. The viral nature of memes makes for a bullying extravaganza, with trolls out to earn a dirty living by wrecking reputations.
Down the road, we will have new senators, congressional leaders, local officials and party-list representatives fulfilling destiny’s call. Let’s hope that they stay humble, competent and honest. The problem lies when we, as voters, take the money and forsake our values, preferring to sell our votes and souls to the most generous, crafty devil. We become intellectual pygmies when we decide to vote for the popular because the more authentic candidates won’t win anyway. Ever since the birth of automated elections, we grapple with the need to ensure that every vote is counted as cast, not as products bought and paid for, allegedly digitally delivered by electoral thieves.
Dear reader, please give political neophytes and the less prominent but deserving candidates a fighting chance. Listen to candidates, regardless of political party or whether they are out for reelection, no matter how dry the prose, or soft the voice. They now face the most difficult battles of their lives. Respect each and every one of them though some may be cringe-worthy and tolerable only in small doses. While these candidates are in the arena, respect is the least that we can give them not just as politicians, but also as human beings with families and friends rooting for their victory.
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Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues. She also represents the OFW sector in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.