‘Synergistic’ pairing (Sabong News)
Author
Jullie Y. Daza
Date
APRIL 07 2022
Do you believe in surveys?
The bad news for lots of people of a certain persuasion is that the five leading pollsters – SWS, Pulse Asia, OCTA, Publicus, Laylo – have “harmony” (quoting one of their researchers) in that their results are agreeably and arguably the same, give or take a dot of a percentage point.
The good news for those on the other side – the believers, especially when the poll results jibe with their expectations — is that “if the trend holds” until election day, the leading contenders for president and vp are headed to making history as the winners of a majority vote.
OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David and Publicus executive director Aureli Sinsuat agree on yet another point. As Dr. David puts it, the BBM-Sara tandem earned a big boost when their teamup became official. He put it in one word: Synergistic. BBM was doing well on his own, but as soon as Inday Sara became his running mate, the ratings pulled up up and away. Synergy. Each was good for the other. Synergy, two energies more powerful than one.
OCTA met Publicus at a breakfast forum hosted by Samahang Plaridel at Manila Hotel last Monday. Though they represent two different entities, the two market-research experts speak the same language where the following are concerned: methodology, funding and spending (it’s not wise to gather the answers of 20,000 respondents for a survey when 1,200 will do), transparency, and the applicability of that big word, “non-commissioned.”
What makes a popular candidate? Voters look for “charisma,” said Guido. “Emotional connection,” said Aureli. “Likeability,” said I. Different words, one meaning.
Against the backdrop of the 2022 elections we find a cozy portrait of highly compatible pairings. Apart from Marcos-Duterte, both of whom share deep and well-nourished local government roots and experiences, consider their rivals. There’s the Vice President, chairman-on-leave of her Liberal Party, and her running mate, the senator who’s president of the same party. Then there’s the mayor and the doctor. The boxer and his mentor. And the twin senators, one a soldier, the other a showbiz name.
BBM and Sara looked so “matching” as principal sponsors at a garden wedding in Cavite last December, a prominent guest commented, “Don’t they look like bride and groom?”
