Election campaigns: Content? What content?
Europe is heading for an electoral super Sunday this weekend: Romania will hold the second round of its presidential election, Poland the first, and Portugal will elect a new parliament. While many have decried the decisive role Tiktok allegedly played in the Romanian election campaign, commentators from Poland and Portugal criticise the lack of debate on substantive issues.
Infantilisation supplanting politics
Correio da Manhã blames social networks for the fact that important international issues are not being addressed in the Portuguese election campaign:
“This is the first election campaign to be dominated by Tiktok, a social network that cements people's infantilisation. The need to appeal to new audiences is prompting even those with a certain capacity for thought to publish ridiculous videos that mark an ongoing dumbing-down process. ... There is little mention of the tariff war that affects our wallets, the genocide in Gaza that should be troubling our souls, the arms race or environmental issues.”
People-pleasing takes priority
The entire focus was on image rather than content in the Portuguese election campaign, writes Visão:
“Instead of conveying ideas or campaigning for their proposals, all efforts were directed at building up the image of the main candidates. They were meant to come across as friendly, smiling, active and cheerful. Even when [conservative incumbent] Luís Montenegro and [his socialist challenger] Pedro Nuno Santos had to take a more combative stance, one always had the impression that despite their determined expressions and excited speeches they were restraining themselves so as not to hurt feelings or generate rejection among the target audience.”
All about personalities rather than policies
Rzeczpospolita sees personalities rather than party platforms increasingly dominating political life:
“People find it easier to choose between party leaders than between their programmes. The former arouse emotions and create bonds between voters and candidates while the latter are hard to grasp and don't generate strong emotional ties. The rise of social media has greatly reinforced this trend. Put simply, it's easier to hate Tusk and love Kaczyński (or vice versa) than to be a supporter of the PO programme and an opponent of the PiS's platform (or vice versa).”