A poem I know begins with these two words -- "the need for tenderness, the need for acknow-ledgement" (
If we change this poem so it reads "the need for rudeness, the need for denial"
Elections are like a battle. Someone who ordinarily does not have the heart to step on an ant becomes a fierce killer who slays without blinking his eyes once he is on the battlefield.
The same is true with politicians. They may all look like decent human beings who would not ordinarily utter a foul word. However, once they are candidates, everything changes. Not only do their facial expressions change, but the words they use become unbearably relentless, piercing, merciless and mean.
Why do people become so rude during elections? The answer is quite simple.
Everyone who runs in an election knows that your good qualities are quickly forgotten, while the flaws (or preferably scandals) of others leave an everlasting impression. This is an important reason for negative campaigning.
However, negative campaigns in Taiwan have simply gone too far. Besides the uniformly negative ads on the media, every candidate also devotes a lot of effort to digging up dirt on others or even their ancestorial tombs.
One minute we hear one candidate accusing another's father of accepting bribes more than 50 years ago. Another minute we hear a candidate accuse another of being adopted. All sorts of wild allegations appear. All kinds of unimaginable inside scoops are unearthed.
Is it okay to just ignore the rumors? Is it okay to not deny false allegations?
The answer is no. Everyone who runs in an election knows that you are guaranteed to pay a very severe price for ignoring your oppo-nent's negative campaign strategy.
Therefore, you smear my name and I deny the allegation. I attack and you refute. Attacks come and go in an endless cycle.
However, negative campaigning is a knife that cuts both sides -- both the target and the accuser. This is also common knowledge to all who run in elections.
After the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, Republican leaders thought it was a godsend, so they went all out to spin the scandal.
They thought for sure they would be able to force Bill Clinton's resignation and send him into retirement for good. In the process, they would also help the Republican Party win the congressional election.
However, their overkill provoked the resentment of voters.
Not only did Clinton's support rate go up, but the Republican Party suffered a major defeat in the congressional election.
Another example is last year's Kaohsiung mayoral election. Incumbent Wu Tun-yi (吳敦義) was still ahead of DPP candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) by 15 percent in polls conducted just a few days before the election.
However, the vote miraculously swung the other way. A key turn of events was the overkill of Wu's negative campaign-ing, which provoked the collective resentment of the voters.
This month's election is for our national leader. If the candidates show such a dark side of themselves and use such rude language during the campaign, who can believe that they won't do otherwise after they are elected?
Perhaps whoever shows a little mercy and manners will be the ultimate winner.
However, I don't think the candidates, who are so enmeshed in the game, could possibly spare an ear for this word of advice.
Wang Chien-chuang is the president of the the Journalist magazine.
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