Monday 6 February 2012

THE NONSENSE ABOUT 'WINNABLE CANDIDATES'

By : RAYMOND TOMBUNG

DATUK Musa Hitam had just said shown his amusement and low opinion about this new popular terminology called 'Winnable Candidates.' He said that it is not up to the leaders to decide but up to the people! And how true!

Personally, I have wondered how to determine if a candidate is 'winnable' or not. Anyway, I am also not comfortable with the word 'winnable' in this context because 'winnable' actually beans 'can be won'. But what they mean is 'able to win' (boleh menang) a phrase which has no single word to express in the English language.

So we are stuck with the awkward 'winnable'. So how do know if someone is a 'can win' candidate? What are the criteria to being a 'can win' candidate? How about a list of traits and capabilities twice the length of your arm, my friend!

No one single set of qualities guarantees election victory. The guy can be a John F. Kennedy, but if he belongs to a party hated by the people he is doomed. And conversely, he can be a cave man or a buffalo but if his party is popular like PBS in 1985, he can still be a giant killer like Datuk Kadoh!

So there is actually no such thing as a winnable candidate because anyone can be winnable or 'loseable' under the right or wrong circumstances! Leaders make events but events also make leaders. To prove this, there is now a good email joke being forwarded around. It goes like this: It is time to choose a new leader and only your vote counts.

Here are the facts about the three candidates on the ballot paper: The first candidate associates with crooked politicians, had two mistresses, chain smokes and have eight to ten martinis per day. The second candidate was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening. The third candidate is a decorated war hero, a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never committed adultery. Who would you vote for? Well, my friend, the first candidate was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the second was Winston Churchill and the third was Hitler!

The other headache for the Prime Minister is that new fresh faces being declared winnable candidates would most likely cause retaliations from incumbents who may ensure the winnable candidates don’t win by sabotaging them, and incumbents normally have good stacks of money to do that. So Datuk Musa is only partly right. It is not just the people who decides if a candidate is winnable but also the rivals in the party, or the strength of cashflows.

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40 comments:

  1. Kris Jr6 February 2012 at 22:39

    winnable candidate / pilihan rakyat?? kerajaan perlu bijak meletakkan calon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kris Jr7 February 2012 at 10:47

      rakyat pun harus mengundi dengan bijaksana

      Delete
    2. DorianG7 February 2012 at 10:51

      They need to re-evaluate what have they done during their tenure of office.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7 February 2012 at 14:49

      pilihan rakyat itulah yang merupakan winnable candidate.

      Delete
    4. mike10 February 2012 at 20:24

      pucuk pimpinan parti kena betul2 pilih calon mereka yang mana diterima dan disokong oleh rakyat...kalau ada sokongan baru boleh menang..yang menentukan menang atau kalah bukannya parti tetapi pengundi..

      Delete
    5. zam11 February 2012 at 02:40

      winnable candidate merupakan calon yang disukai atau menjadi pilihan rakyat.

      Delete
    6. kamilla11 February 2012 at 21:25

      Calon yang bakal bertanding haruslah berjiwa rakyat dan calon yang di sukai rakyat.

      Delete
  2. Jason6 February 2012 at 23:39

    Its important to have a candidate that could win the people's heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. zam11 February 2012 at 02:42

      setuju..siapa yang dpat memenangi hati rakyat maka dialah yang akan menang.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13 February 2012 at 13:14

      Harus berusaha untuk berkhidmat dan memperjuangkan yang terbaik untuk rakyat.

      Delete
  3. Anak Sabah7 February 2012 at 10:20

    Pelantikan calon oleh parti juga perlulah dilaksanakan dengan cermat, kenalah meletakkan seorang calon yang boleh memenangi hati pengundi dan juga berkelakyakan untuk menjadi pemimpin yang baik.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7 February 2012 at 10:57

      kena teliti dalam memilih calon, pastikan calon mempunyai kriteria yang boleh menang.

      Delete
    2. mike10 February 2012 at 20:26

      kalau calon recycle yang mana ditolak oleh rakyat, memang tiada peluang untuk menang...mungkin muka baru harus diketengahkan kerana muka2 lama ini kuat rasuah dan makan duit rakyat..

      Delete
    3. zam11 February 2012 at 02:44

      pemilihan calon pastinya dibuat dengan teliti..semua parti akan menurunkan calon terbaik mereka.

      Delete
  4. Anak Sabah7 February 2012 at 10:21

    Memang betul rakyat yang akan membuat pemilihan mereka akhirnya, tapi sebuah parti juga perlulah meletakkan seorang calon yang elok supaya rakyat berkeyakinan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mike10 February 2012 at 20:27

      ianya bergantung kepada pucuk pimpinan parti untuk memilih calon mereka yang dirasakan boleh menang..

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13 February 2012 at 13:16

      Make sure the right candidate been choosen. Hope to see some new face too.

      Delete
  5. Hinamori7 February 2012 at 10:49

    Responsibility of BN leaders towards listening to problems faced by the people and efforts to resolve them is not seasonal but rather a continuous process said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman. He assured that the people of Sabah will continue supporting the BN to ensure a huge victory for BN in the coming 13th General Election.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7 February 2012 at 10:59

    pemilihan calon yang tepat juga akan menentukan keputusan pilihanraya.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7 February 2012 at 14:52

      sudah pasti..jadi, pemilihan calon oleh setiap parti kena dilakukan dengan teliti supaya kemungkinan untuk menang adalah tinggi.

      Delete
    2. No name14 February 2012 at 08:48

      WR do his part, the people will do their part too to give the best to them.

      Delete
  7. Carnation7 February 2012 at 14:49

    How true it is !! The leader may think he/she is the best candidate and win the election. However, the people will decide not the leaders.

    Some people will vote for a particular party that he or she likes , who is there , not important but some vote for the "person" that she /he likes and does not care which party he/she is in. Only God knows who will win.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mike10 February 2012 at 20:30

      semuanya terletak di tangan rakyat dan bukannya pemimpin...rakyat yang menentukannya...sebab kita mengamalkan demokrasi..dari rakyat, kepada rakyat, untuk rakyat..

      Delete
  8. Bujang Senang9 February 2012 at 15:56

    Bukan senang untuk mencari calon yang benar-benar untuk rakyat. Maka pilihlah mengikut apa yang terbaik untuk rakyat dan juga permintaan dari mereka. Kerana itulah yang akan membantu menjadi calon yang boleh menang.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mike10 February 2012 at 20:32

      BN menggunakan formula winnable candidate..jadi pasti akan berlaku pengguguran dari dicalonkan semula wakil2 rakyat BN sekarang..

      Delete
    2. zam11 February 2012 at 02:46

      calon yang dipilih nanti perlulah mereka yang sering mendekati rakyat..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13 February 2012 at 13:18

      That is no way about winnable candidate, winnable via PATI that is possible.

      Delete
    4. No name14 February 2012 at 08:45

      Kalau ikhlas untuk berkhidmat untuk rakyat, pasti akan menjadi winnable.

      Delete
  9. Bujang Senang9 February 2012 at 15:57

    Maka kepada calon sekalian semua apa yang kita buat akan dinilai oleh rakyat sendiri. Maka jangan membuat kerja kerana perkara penting saja.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bujang Senang9 February 2012 at 15:59

    PRU semakin dekat, maka kerajaan perlu berusaha lebih memastikan akan terus mendapat sokongan dari rakyat. Selagi kerajaan meletak calon yang terbaik selagi itulah penduduk akan terus memberika sokongan yang kuat kepada kerajaan.

    ReplyDelete
  11. zam11 February 2012 at 02:48

    persaingan mula terasa..setiap parti akan menurunkan calon terbaik..jadi rakyat pandai-pandailah memilih.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11 February 2012 at 09:59

    media banyak melaporkan tentang masalah atau prstasi mana2 pemimpin di negara ini.. melalui pendedahan media itu, boleh juga dijadikan sandaran untuk membuat penilaian atau keputusan samada pemimpin itu boleh dikategorikan winnable candidate atau sebaliknya..

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11 February 2012 at 10:01

    kalau mahu jawapan yang lebih tepat, lantik la mana2 individu atau kumpulan untuk menjalankan kaji selidik di setiap kampung atau kawasan..

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous13 February 2012 at 13:19

    Najib will do the best to allocate the seats, lets wait and I am sure he will do better arrangement.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous13 February 2012 at 13:21

    Rakyat harus bijak menilai dan pastikan calon yang dipilih betul-betul berusaha dan bertanggung jawab.

    ReplyDelete
  16. No name14 February 2012 at 08:36

    Let Najib to do his part to allocate his candidates.

    ReplyDelete
  17. No name14 February 2012 at 08:44

    Nothing about winnable, its all in the people hand to decide.

    ReplyDelete
  18. No name14 February 2012 at 08:49

    Harap muka baru yang berbakat akan diberi peluang.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15 February 2012 at 09:42

      New face, new approach, more proactive.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous15 February 2012 at 09:45

    Yang banyak melobi nanti ada harapan jadi calonkah? Janganlah.

    ReplyDelete

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