The latest SWS survey shows Bongbong Marcos in a statistical tie with Chiz Escudero in a five-cornered race for the vice presidency. That is not surprising. For all the supposed baggage Bongbong carries as a Marcos, he has handled his campaign pretty well. No wonder that his numbers, which started in single digits near the cellar, have steadily climbed to within the plus/minus margin of error of three points that separate him from Chiz, at 28 percent to his 25 percent.
And how has Bongbong handled his campaign? For one, he is doing it often below the radar, away from the publicity and fanfare. For as long as Bongbong moves around, he promotes awareness and expands his reach, the same goals any candidate aspires for, minus the risks of getting caught in a public controversy. The problem with publicity and fanfare? They attract all types, including critics and the usual hecklers.
Where Bongbong cannot avoid publicity and fanfare, as when he has to deal with press conferences and media interviews, he deals as much as possible only with the professional ones. There is common sense in dealing preferably only with professional media, who are bound by high ethical standards. They operate within objective parameters and the dictates of fairness. They value integrity in their own persons.
Bongbong would be comfortable engaging them. They may ask him tough questions but he knows they will not press him for answers he is not willing to give or insist on answers they perceive to be the right ones. It is what it is in the professional world, and it works both ways, for Bongbong, and for the media. That is why, Bongbong, for all that his name conjures, has not really encountered a truly bad press, or at least one he cannot adequately handle.
Of course, it helps to have a bailiwick in the truest sense of the word. And Bongbong does not only have one but two bailiwicks. There is the so-called Solid North, which is not really so-called because it is in fact true. And then there is Eastern Visayas, though not as solid as the Ilocos, but dependable enough to deliver according to expectations.
That Bongbong placed seventh in 2010 was the real surprise. In that senatorial race, only the movie stars and real political giants who cannot be shoved aside topped him. They were Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Miriam Santiago, Franklin Drilon, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Pia Cayetano, who proved to be the only real surprise. But Bongbong beat Ralph Recto, Serge Osmeña, Tito Sotto, Lito Lapid, and TG Guingona, who mostly carry anti-martial law and Edsa revolt names.
Perhaps the result of the 2010 senatorial race, more than anything else, is what emboldened Bongbong to seek a higher position. He could have made a run for another Senate term, in which the prospect of winning is as sure as it was safe. Nobody could have given the term shoo-in a more forceful meaning than Bongbong running for reelection.
But he is gunning for something higher. And it is not because he has the support of two bailiwicks. There was something Bongbong saw in the results of the 2010 senatorial election that convinced him to move on and up. And the results of all the vice presidential surveys seem to bear him out. Something higher than the Senate is, however, an entirely different ball game. How everything ends remains to be seen.
To be sure, there will be many who get to read this article who will promptly reject the notion of having Bongbong in anything higher than a Senate seat. Sadly they will all use the same arguments they had in opposing precisely his run for the Senate in 2010. That means they are all still rooted in the same place when the rest of everything has moved on to another. Only those who understand life's realities will not be caught by life's surprises.