The election campaign is heating up: such an arsenal of tools had previously been used unless Paksas

“I would not agree that the election campaign is boring,” said Dr. VMU dr. Prof. Lauras Bielinis and VU doc. Dr. Andrius Šuminas.

Both specialists were noted for the publication “Inaccessible” published by the green peasants, especially against the conservatives, whose circulation, according to data from the 15min.lt portal, reached 400 thousand. do you copy.

“Such a publication alone, published in such a large circulation, makes this election campaign exceptional compared to previous Seimas election campaigns. We have an example of negative communication, and we probably had no such examples when it comes to the Seimas elections. We could compare this only to the presidential elections, the second round of the fight between R. Paksas and V. Adamkus, when a special issue of Vakaro žinios was published in great circulation just before Friday’s elections, and it was very similar there too: the information was directed against V. Adamkus “, A. Schumin recalled.

A political communication researcher has speculated that this is not over yet, and it is possible that in the remaining three weeks, green farmers will receive a conservative response to this post.

“I wonder what that reaction will be,” Schumin said.

The scientist pointed out that the stick with which the green-peasants aimed at the opponents also has the other end.

“Obviously, they are targeting a very specific audience with their circulation. It is difficult to say how affected you are. But, as the example of R. Paksas shows, it was impressive. Of course, this happened a long time ago, sixteen years ago. It is difficult to predict what effect this will have today. We will see that after the elections. The examples from other countries show that sometimes the negative turns against the politicians or parties involved in such communication, ”said A. Šuminas.

We managed to expel real competitors from public space.

Vytautas University professor Magnus L. Bielinis noted that green peasants managed to ensure that they and conservatives are back in the spotlight with the publication “Inaccessible.”

“Now we are all discussing it, some agree, others do not, but in this way our attention is already attracted only by two political forces, the peasants, the Greens and the Conservatives. In this way, everyone else is drawn to the second, if not the third plan, ”said L. Bielinis.

According to the political scientist, that strategy is affected.

“We have to realize that people are different: there are voters who have their own clear attitudes beforehand, both about green farmers and about conservatives. They don’t care about this post, they already think they know everything. However, there is a large group of people who are not very interested in the details of political processes, or who forget various facts of the state very quickly, they need a strong emotional stimulus to make them see and form an opinion again. This publication is a very important factor for that group of people, “said L. Bielinis.

According to the political scientist, this communication, which instead of presenting one’s own strengths, highlights the deficiencies of the opponents, is not an innovation.

“It just came to our notice then. And in Lithuania there have been cases where arguments have been made against something, and in favor of some positives. Those arguments against something help to mobilize voters. And most importantly, As I have already mentioned, when it is presented so vividly, it eliminates other political forces from the public space. Let us understand that the green peasant competitors are not conservative, their main competitors are the Social Democrats, the “workers”, other left and center parties. , but now we’re not even talking about them, “said L. Bielinis.

He used a “beacon” to fight the competitors

Tomas Pačės’ lesser-known political force, Lithuania-All, was also targeting competitors through lesser-caliber means. The party circulated a “beaver counter” on Facebook with the question “how many beavers are there at parties?” How effective is such advertising and what is its real purpose has not been easy to answer even for a specialist in political communication.

“I do not know, in fact, it is strange that the publicity does not say what they mean by that. However, it is clear that such parties, movements, first of all, need notoriety.” They try to draw attention to themselves by all means to talk about them, “said A. Šuminas.

Conservatives have opted for a different strategy

Political scientist L. Bielinis has no doubt that conservatives are also picking up a compromise against green peasants.

“There is a natural element here: finding and publishing compromising material that would disparage those who may win the election too hard. The conservatives simply chose a different strategy.

We see that day by day, drop by drop, information is given about one, this about another, who is getting older. Speaking to a colleague recently, we said that we will soon remember the paved roads. They have been talked about for a long time. I think we’ll hear it in the next few weeks, “said L. Bielinis.

He chose the American strategy

Among the most prominent forms of public communication of the conservatives before the elections, the party congress stood out, to whose organization the party paid much attention to its solemnity and emotional disposition.

“In this way, the American tradition of meetings is assumed. The conservatives did the same during the presidential elections, in which I. Šimonytė ran. Everything is filmed very well there, then it will be used to make audiovisual material that will be broadcast to through social networks or other channels ”, commented A. Šuminas.

The political communication expert noted that this creates a pathological impression that the party is gaining universal support, which is an important psychological factor in attracting voters.

“It is important to the voters, if they look like winners, the impression that there is a breakthrough,” Schumin said.

Another public feature of conservative communication that stands out during these elections is that the first public number on the list, I. Šimonytė, can be seen alongside other candidates in the public stands. In Vilnius there is a stand, where an exceptionally female team of political leaders meets.

“It is obvious that the party sees an axis in the person of I. Šimonytė. The party is nominated during the nomination of the personality, that party list must become I. Šimonytė’s list. They want it and probably will”, noted L. Bielinis.

Meanwhile, A. Šuminas pointed out that the match applies to specific audiences with different messages.

“The exposure of women, the placement in the first lines of communication, is related to the fact that in this way they try to attract the voices of a female audience,” said the researcher.

Paulauskas with a cannabis spinner, playful?

The largest series of various rarities of political videos was the communication of politicians “three musketeers” (Freedom and Justice Party) on social networks. In one picture, their leaders Artūras Zuokas entertained the audience by jumping like a ball. In another video, a trio of politicians, sitting on a bus that had already become their brand, spinning a cannabis spinner (who ultimately did not smoke), discussed the responsibility of smoking “weed.”

“These measures apply to specific audiences. Obviously, that ‘ball’ was broadcast on the destination channel, and then when it reached other channels, it is seen one way or another, but for some audiences, that jump may be understandable. and it looks “cool”.

The image of the bus selected for operation is also further tested. Sure, that cannabis spinning division seems odd, but they’re probably trying to reach a younger, more liberal audience this way. Although I don’t know, Artūras Paulauskas with a hint of cannabis doesn’t look like that anyway, “said A. Šuminas.

Political scientist L. Bielinis noted that the “three musketeers” apply a playful behavior strategy.

“They portray that ‘we are so relaxed we will blink at you. We are serious, we are just naughty.” A few quarters ago, there were already such relaxed candidates, I mean the list of A. Valinskas. Now, this “three musketeers” strategy is probably overdue, “L. Bielinis said.

Less prominent figures of the Vilnius bubble burst in the regions

From the point of view of the Vilnius social bubble, the Social Democrats, the Labor Party and some other parties seem less visible. Political communication researchers speculated that they could be a luxury in the regions.

“The Social Democrats probably understand that they are unlikely to be your main voter in Vilnius. Attention is drawn to the regions where your voters are located. So is the Labor Party. The process is underway, only other means are being used, ”said A. Šuminas.

It appears to political scientist L. Bielinis that the Social Democrats have opted for a two-step strategy.

“On the one hand, they are very aware that they have a guaranteed stake that may not be impressive, but it does exist, and they will cross the five percent barrier. But obviously they need to gather seats in single-member districts, therefore I think they work hard in the regions and will try to achieve the maximum result there through single-member districts, ”commented L. Bielinis.

The most important offsets are usually “thrown in” last

A. Šuminas, a political communication researcher, called the peasant-green’s publication “Inaccessible” as “black technologies.”

“If there is a trump card, it is generally attempted to spread it just before the election so that the opponents do not have a chance to respond. However, we can also consider the” untouchables “mentioned above as one of the trump cards that are they launched very early. The question is if there are other triumphs up our sleeve, and if we will see them, or if they have already been thrown beforehand, to be able to spread and spread the message to the maximum, “said A. Šumin.