When Choosing National Leaders, First Consider Character

When Choosing National Leaders, First Consider Character
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
April 13, 2011

No doubt about it. The 2012 presidential election has begun. DPP presidential candidates Tsai Ing-wen and Su Tseng-chang have each aired numerous TV commercials. They have agreed to repeated public interviews. Meanwhile, President Ma Ying-jeou is sure to seek reelection. Beginning with the four day spring break, he repeatedly defended his major policy proposals. He repeatedly appeared at various venues. He reached out to grass-roots voters at the Tachia Matsu ceremony. He rapped with students. His media exposure rivaled that of the DPP presidential candidates.

The incumbency has advantages and disadvantages, The advantage is one need not buy air time, Whenever one appears in public, it is news. The media must report it. The disadvantage is the incumbent is subject to oversight. The opposition need only look on and criticize. It need not assume any responsibility. The incumbent on the other hand, must constantly defend himself. Faced with criticism, he must refute the charges leveled against him. He must clarify the issues. He must reach out to the public. He must present solutions.

For example, Su Tseng-chang's primary ads made purely emotional appeals. His ads spoke of his 30 years in politics, and his identification with the land. They even used his primary school photographs, They made little effort to discuss policy. To gain any understanding of his policy proposals, one would have to watch his interviews or the primary debates. Tsai Ing-wen's primary ads appealed first to reason, then to emotion. Recently she ran a nuclear-free homeland ad. The ad starred an adorable little child, but gave no hint of how a nuclear-free homeland might be achieved.

Advertising is propaganda. Propaganda must be easy to understand. It must reach straight into peoples' hearts. Basically, they can only convey, not express, ideas. Take the noisily debated Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant project for example. The Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant project was approved by Premier Su Tseng-chang and Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen. The two can hardly disclaim responsiblity for its implementation. But neither addressed this fact in their TV ads. Su Tseng-chang chose to apologize for his policy decisions, and for promoting the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant project. He even phoned EIA members, expressing concern over Tsai Ing-wen's refusal to apologize. Whether politicians are consistent is a matter of concern for many swing voters. It may determine whether they are willing to support a candidate. But for the vast majority of voters, who do not understand the importance, consistency makes little difference. Tsai Ing-wen is appealing to first time voters. In the end, how many people know or even care about the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant project?

As the incumbent however, Ma Ying-jeou must ensure policy continuity. He must implement the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant project, which was initiated by the DPP when it was in power. He must bear the brunt of favorable and unfavorable opinions. He must assume responsibility for positive and negative consequences. He must decide whether to continue construction, stop construction, transfer the project overseas, or settle on some other option. To solicit public opinion, he met with university students and raised the issue. In fact, the students who participated could offer no compelling reasons for their position. Basically, this approach is unlikely to help the Ma administration make these important decisions. That said, Ma Ying-jeou did something. It was better than doing nothing. After all, he is the nation's leader, and helped young people understand the importance of public policy.

In addition to the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant project, Ma Ying-jeou discussed issues such as the luxury tax and the abolition of the death penalty. As one can imagine, he could do little more than touch upon these subjects, But Ma Ying-jeou did not give up. His facebook page says he hopes to visit other schools, and discuss other issues of interest to students. If this is Ma Ying-jeou's way of reaching out to first time voters, he comes across as considerably more sincere than Tsai Ing-wen.

As long as Ma remains approachable, he can make a good impression. Many have expressed disapproval with Ma Ying-jeou for repeatedly meeting with voters. He was heckled and denounced as "stupid" when he appeared at an anti-Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant banquet. When he and Wang Li-hong spoke to young people about having the courage to pursue their dreams, some mocked him, saying he allowed himself to be upstaged by a pop singer. But when he met with university students to discuss public policy, shouldn't he have been above reproach? No such luck. Who knew a Blue Camp legislator would become incensed at a student for failing to stand when the president entered. "I wanted to slap the student repeatedly across the face," the legislator said. Ma Ying-jeou, on the other hand, dismissed the matter. His face book pages says "Taiwan has entered the era of democracy and freedom, It is not really necessary to impose too many restrictions on college students. We should simply go with the flow." In short, the president and the legislator held very different views about student discipline.

A leader must have the courage to meet his critics face to face. Ma Ying-jeou has been widely praised for his squeaky clean image. But many have questioned his courage. When he ran for president in 2008, he published a book entitled "Quiet Determination," which argued that courage is expressed not in words, but in deeds. He has now served as president for three years. Many people have forgotten that Ma Ying-jeou expresses his courage in a different manner than other politicians. He is a sitting president. He cannot express his courage through empty gestures. He must express his courage through substantive action.

Do not concern yourself with hecklers. Do not worry about whether you will benefit from your exchanges with young people. A politician's reputation and achievements are the result of long term behavior. Ma, Su, and Tsai are competing against each other to become the nation's leader. What they say and do reveal their character. The presidential election has begun. Voters will soon choose qualified leaders, by reading the candidates' campaign literature, but more importantly, by observing their real world conduct.

選國家領導人 首看格局氣度
2011-04-13 中國時報

不必懷疑，二○一二年總統大選已然起跑！民進黨兩位總統初選候選人蔡英文與蘇貞昌，推出大量電視廣告，也密集接受媒體訪問；同時，必然競選連任的馬英九總統，則從連續四天的春假期間開始，頻繁為重大政策親上火線，並且更頻繁的出席各種活動，包括與基層草根感情連結的大甲媽祖遶境，乃至與青年學子座談，其媒體曝光度不輸民進黨總統初選候選人的宣傳廣告。

做為執政者，有優勢也有劣勢，優勢是不必做廣告，只要他現身就是新聞點，媒體就得報導；劣勢是他是權力者，也是被監督者；在野者只須監督與批評，不必負責，執政者卻處於被動守勢，面對批評與質疑，反駁不夠還要澄清，澄清不夠還需要溝通，溝通不夠更得提出解決方案。

舉例來說，蘇貞昌的初選廣告訴求感性，以從政卅年歷程強調他與這塊土地同聲呼氣，連他國小照片都用上了，沒費太大力氣談政策立場，他的政策理念得從媒體訪問和初選辯論會中窺得端倪；蔡英文的初選廣告先理性再感性，最近一支非核家園廣告，運用討人喜歡的孩子卻不必提出如何做到非核家園。

廣告就是宣傳，宣傳要用簡單易懂、直入人心的方式呈現，基本上，只能傳達意念不能表達理念。以最近吵翻天的國光石化案為例，做為批核國光石化案的前正副院長，蘇貞昌和蔡英文的政策責任無可推諉，但完全不必在廣告呈現。蘇貞昌為當年政策決定道歉，當年力推國光石化案，甚至打電話給環評委員表示關切的蔡英文不道歉，對介意政治人物政策立場是否一貫的中間選民，可能是影響其支持意向關鍵，但對絕大多數不是那麼了解政策重要性的選民卻差別不大。像蔡英文訴求的「首投族」，到底有多少人關心甚至知道國光石化案不無疑問。

但是，做為執政者，當馬英九基於政策的延續性，推動民進黨政府執政時的國光石化政策時，所有贊成或反對，正面與負面的後果，他都得概括承受，在繼續興建、停止興建、或者移轉海外等各種選項，他必須有所抉擇。為了聆聽民意，他特別在與大學生座談會的場合，提出這個公共政策，與會學生其實講不出天大的道理，基本上，不大可能成為馬政府決策的參考。即使如此，馬英九的動作還是比不談要好得多，因為，他以國家領導人的高度，讓年輕人體會公共政策的重要性。

除了國光石化案，馬英九與大學生互動的公共政策還包括死刑存廢、奢侈稅等。可想而知，大學生與他的互動再熱絡也只能點到為止，馬英九沒有因此放棄努力，他在臉書上說，還希望有機會到別的學校，討論大學生感興趣的公共政策題目。如果這也是馬英九吸引「首投族」的做法，坦白說，比蔡英文的文宣廣告誠意多了。

只要親近就有機會爭取好感，很多人對馬英九頻頻站到第一線表達不以為然，在彰化參加反國光石化萬人餐會遭嗆，被人批評笨；與王立宏對談年輕人勇敢追求夢想，被人譏嘲風采被偶像歌手搶光了；和大學生座談政策，總沒人批評了吧？沒想到藍營立委竟氣到痛罵大學生和總統講話不起立，「簡直想打那個大學生幾個巴掌。」倒是馬英九非常釋懷，他在臉書上說，「台灣已經進入民主自由的時代，其實不必用太多的條條框框加在大學生身上，一切自然就好。」一句話，就透露總統與立委的胸襟和視野果然差很大。

勇敢面對異議者，是領導者必須具備的膽氣。馬英九的廉潔形象已受肯定，但他的魄力卻總是遭到質疑；二○○八年他競選總統時，出版《沉默的魄力》，以政績說明魄力不在嘴上，而在行動。就任總統三年多，很多人快忘記馬英九曾經如此標榜自己的魄力，不同於其他政治人物，已是現任總統的他，不能以空洞的宣傳說明自己的擔當，更須用行動展現自己能力。

不必介意遭嗆，不必懷疑與年輕人互動有什麼好處，形象與政績都得靠一點一滴的實際作為才能累積，做為競逐國家領導人大位的政治領袖，馬、蘇或蔡的一言一行都得表現格局和氣度，總統大選已然開跑，選民自會從文宣廣告與實際行動間，找到真正適格的國家領導人。