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Published on November 6, 2007

The Democrat Party is one of the favourites to form a new government. It has a golden chance because its fiercest opponent will not run in this poll. Deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra insists he will return to the Kingdom only after the election.

The Thai Rak Thai Party, which defeated the Democrats in the 2001 and 2005 polls, was disbanded by the Constitution Tribunal in May for election fraud.

However, the Democrats still struggle to win the hearts and minds of those who voted for their now-absent opponent in the previous polls.

Nothing is wrong with the party's candidates, but instead its "messages" confuse the voters.

The Democrats blame Thaksin for putting his cronies and his business empire before everything else during his reign. So they've come up with fresh slogans like "People's Agenda" and "People Must Come First" to prove that they are really out to capture the popular vote.

Now, the party's candidates, particularly in the North, the Central region and Northeast, have found something they did not think of when they launched their campaign. Rural voters do not ask about Democrat policies. They keep asking what "agenda" means.

The word is used by well-educated people and academics, mostly in written language. Ordinary people never use a word like this in their everyday life.

So last week the Democrats launched a new campaign poster that reads: "People must come first". The face of party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva takes up about half the space, and only a few ordinary people can be seen in the background.

As in the 2005 election, the Democrats have launched a campaign to win at least 200 of the 500 MP seats - in order to ensure the ability of the opposition to censure the prime minister.

However, they failed in this attempt last time round. It took so much energy for Democrat candidates to explain to voters the rules of the 1997 Constitution that requires a certain number of MPs to censure the prime minister. But voters perceived that the Democrats knew they would lose the poll by focusing on the censure debate. The party had raised the white flag even before it knew the result.

Mr ONE has one suggestion for the Democrat Party: sack your campaign manager. He, or she, does not deserve your pay.

by Mr. ONE

The Nation