When a political party fails

Chae Byung-gun
The author is an editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.

The first job of a political party is to field candidates. The pinnacle of democracy is an election, and a political party that fails to field a competitive candidate in an election is not worth its existence. A political party is a group united by its political positions. These positions are implemented through the words and laws of politicians. Therefore, the public equates politicians with their positions and visions. The equation “party = candidate” is even more apt for this year’s U.S. presidential election campaign. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have not presented ready-made, new faces.

Three months before the presidential election, the Democratic Party has changed its candidate, nominating Vice President Kamala Harris to run against Donald Trump instead of President Joe Biden. While this switch successfully shook up the game and regrouped supporters, it feels empty compared to the Democratic Party’s winning formula in previous presidential elections.

After World War II, the Democratic Party produced John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and the incumbent Joe Biden as presidents. Kennedy was considered the leading candidate for the New Frontier. Young and charismatic, the 43-year-old politician and his beautiful wife ushered in a government that was retrospectively called Camelot. His electoral victory provided an opportunity for Irish Catholicism to enter the WASP-oriented American leadership. Carter used a different style of character building. In the 1976 presidential election, which was overshadowed by the Watergate scandal that rocked American politics, Carter presented himself as an outsider untainted by Washington. He emphasized that he worked on a peanut farm and was the only person who could change Washington. And the strategy worked. Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, a remote region of the United States. His stepfather was an alcoholic. Clinton’s opponent was incumbent President George HW Bush, who led the Gulf War to victory for the United States and once had an approval rating of 89 percent. Clinton’s campaign slogan at the time was “It’s the economy, stupid.” That slogan is still used today, and Clinton won the presidential election by dominating the election agenda.

Obama once again shows how important a person’s story can be. The keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was a starting point for the political newcomer, when he said his father was born in a small village in Kenya and raised goats. Obama’s “boldness of hope” was enlivened by the fact that he was the first black presidential candidate. The aforementioned candidates have three things in common – youth, freshness and change. In comparison, Harris jumped into the race too quickly.

Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures during a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, July 27. Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is seen in a similar pose while holding a campaign rally in Philadelphia on August 6. (REUTERS/YONHAP)

But what is even stranger is the situation with the Republican Party, which is struggling with an unexpected candidate. The race was in the Republicans’ favor, so the Democrats had to make the extreme decision of changing their candidate. However, recent polls show a closer race. The change of candidate three months before the presidential election almost sealed the deal. Now, however, no one can say with certainty that Trump will win. Trump should have expanded his campaign to reach moderate voters and create a winning mood, but he failed to do so.

The Republican Party has also failed to produce new leaders who could take on the Democratic Party over the past four years. Although the Trump phenomenon was evident, no politician could surpass the former president who is dividing the country. Instead, the number of Trump supporters in Congress grew. Rivals like Nicky Haley and Ron DeSantis were not enough to take on Trump. It is uncertain whether the Republican Party, which has twice let Trump take the helm, can produce a conservative leader who could be loved by all Americans like Ronald Reagan.

The US presidential election is not irrelevant to Korea. It is very similar to the People Power Party (PPP). After the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in 2017, the liberal Democratic Party (DP) and the PPP failed to field competitive candidates. The 2017 presidential election was chaotic as a candidate was selected to unite the collapsed conservative camp. Five years later, the PPP failed to field candidates with the potential to change the government in 2022. Its presidential candidate was fielded from outside the party.

It is still questionable whether the PPP is capable of producing leaders. It is unclear whether the party’s potential candidates who have been active in the party have leadership qualities in state administration, and whether the newly appointed party officials have the political power to resolve the difficult relationship between the party and the government and appease public opinion. In a politically polarized society, no matter how unqualified a candidate may be, supporters will still vote based on party affiliation. The PPP can rely on polarization in elections. This means that the PPP is not leading society politically, but is instead a free-rider of division.

The main reason for a political party to exist is to field candidates. If the PPP again fails to promote its own candidate within the party, as it did in the previous two presidential elections, its existence as a political party will cease to exist.