Bunting proves he’s the better loser
Published:Saturday | August 10, 2019 | 12:13 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The fact that Peter Bunting has expressed that the major reason for challenging Peter Phillips is the party’s inability to win with Phillips at the helm and the fact that the slogan of his campaign is ‘We can win’, I was expecting the polls to show Mr Bunting ahead when compared to Andrew Holness.
When it was announced that the Rise United camp was having a press conference to release poll results, one would believe that the polls would not just show Mr Bunting ahead of Dr Phillips, but also ahead of Mr Holness. If the polls were showing Mr Bunting leading Andrew Holness, that would have been a real turning point.
Releasing a poll showing himself trailing Mr Holness seems rather counter-productive. Mr Bunting is, basically, saying that he will be the better loser.
Bunting’s camp should be disappointed that with all the promotion of their candidate, and the current tours taking place, Mr Bunting is still not doing well in the polls. Mr Bunting has still not proven that he can win, which is the foundation of his bid for presidency.
The truth is, Dr Phillips has never been a popular politician, even with all his achievements. The very same can be said about Mr Bunting. Though he has been a successful businessman and high-ranking PNP functionary, he has never had a personality that stood out in the minds of the public.
Neither candidate should mention popularity or likeability because they are both lacking in that regard. The focus should be on issues and performance.
The PNP has often complained about Mr Holness being incompetent and using PR as a tool to hide his incompetence. But with Mr Bunting’s approach to this campaign, it seems as if he will be aiming to beat Andrew Holness at his own game: public relations.
GARTH THOMPSON