Russians last month received a taste of what Canadians receive regularly at election time: television campaigning.
The twist is television time was provided free to candidates – and 43 political parties were represented.
With 62 candidates running for four positions in their lower house of parliament (the Duma), time was tight. According to INEWS, each one had seven minutes on the state-run television.
Using TV for democratic political campaigning is new for the Russian politicians, said INEWS: “Many of the candidates are people who never before have used the medium, and their inexperience shows.”
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In Canada, the politicians’ appearance, presentation skills, confidence and articulation are groomed to create strong impressions on the electorate. In Russia, politicians are still learning. One woman with “bleached-blond hair and dark-tinted glasses” never looked directly at the camera, but only at the papers she was reading. When the moderator tried to cut her off at seven minutes, he had little luck. Another candidate wore a lime-green jacket and spoke very fast. He said he would not be like some candidates who promised voters free beer and vodka.
Obviously one of the candidates had the money and training to copy western world tactics. He appeared in a well-produced seven-minute video as a “well-dressed young businessman sitting at an impressive modern desk,” INEWS reported. “A computer monitor is at his elbow, telling viewers this is a contemporary man. Instead of speaking to the camera, he answers questions from a friendly interviewer. The camera pans between the two men, and occasionally zooms in on the earnest features of the candidate.” He stressed his professional qualifications and that he should be elected because “he is a nice guy.”
INEWS wasn’t clear which tactic won the most votes: the slick video or the offers of free vodka.
