Somebody Call the Guiness Book

Late last twelvemonth when his three-year term was coming to an end, Earl Of Warwick Morris, the British Ambassador to Korea, asked his authorities for a one-year extension so that he could remain to see through the presidential election. He will now go forth Korean Peninsula in late January as he wished. He must be pleased with his decision. The Economist magazine have described the presidential race as a "kaleidoscope." A diplomatist at the American Embassy in Capital Of South Korea said in a private meeting recently, "The election political campaign is like a salesroom -- showing anything that tin possibly go on in an election."

John C. Turmel is a perennial campaigner in Canada, and the holder of the Alec Guinness Book of Records lists for the most elections contested and the most elections lost.

Turmel, 56, have so far lost 66 federal and provincial elections in a political calling he began at age 28. But his record, a mere repeat of yearly campaigns, is negligible compared with the Korean presidential race. It is so prevailing with records that the Alec Guinness Book might see gap a new chapter just for the 17th presidential election in Korea.

First, United New Democratic Party flooring leader Kim Hyo-seuk said not long ago that intuitions about Thousand National Party campaigner Spike Lee Myung-bak's engagement in wrong-doings mightiness be suitable for the Alec Guinness Book. So mightiness the opinion party's negative campaigning. Despite their busy schedules, UNDP lawmakers are preoccupied with trying to delve up soil from Lee's past or to slander him.

The GNP's defensive attitudes might also be suitable for the Alec Guinness Book. A record figure of lawyers are now working for the resistance party. The leading listing of legal guns even wowed Kim Kyung-jun, Lee's former concern spouse and the ex-chief of investing house BBK and premier suspect in the BBK scandal. Kim was extradited to Capital Of South Korea last Friday. There is no election in the human race that have no negative campaigning. But there can be nil like the current election in Korean Peninsula that began with mudslinging and have continued with mudslinging as well.

Second, the opinion political party have merged with other political groupings within the broader opinion encampment three times, and founded new political parties or changed its name four modern modern times since May. It have called itself the United Centrist Reform Party, the United Centrist Democratic Party, the United New Democratic Party, and now the United Democratic Party. This must be a new record for how frequently a political party can change its name in such as a short period.

Last month, gross national product president Kang Jae-sup said in mention to the opinion camp's enlisting of shade voters and the illegal usage of President Roh Moo-hyun's name for its primary that such as ugly patterns are suitable for the Alec Guinness Book of Records. So leadership of both the opinion and the resistance encampments have got criticized each other for being suitable for the records book.

Third, polling agencies, which are normally supposed to bring forth mention information about elector trends, have got been turned into election agencies. In August, the gross national product employed sentiment polls to assist find its primary winner, using a 20% expression to convert responses from 5,490 surveyed people into 32,724 ballots.

The United Democratic Party will bring forth a single united candidate, either Chung Dong-young Oregon Rhee In-je, based on the consequences of a opinion poll to be conducted on Friday and Saturday. That do the political party members and delegates only idle spectators. If things maintain going like this, all other election procedures might stop up as mere formalities.

There are more than things that mightiness also be suitable for the Alec Guinness Book -- the frequence of the president's onslaughts on both opinion and resistance candidates, the frequence of a former president's intervention in the political campaign to back up a specific political group, and the entry into the race by a former resistance candidate. There are still 30 years left before the election, and there could be more than records coming. The state of affairs itself is also suitable for the records book.

People wonder at entries in the Alec Guinness Book of Records. Foreigners will wonder at the Korean presidential race. But for Koreans, the presidential election cannot be a joke. Of course, there are brilliant and fantastic entries in the Alec Guinness Book as well. Korean electors should pass down a austere judgement to their politicians who do only ugly ones.

This column was contributed by Joo Yong-joong, from the Chosun Ilbo's National/Politics Desk.

Giuliani Seen as Sporting Strongest Coattails

While members of United States Congress have got their ain 2008 elections to worry about, they are hardly disinterested witnesses of the presidential race. The personal identity of the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigners is of huge importance to Senate and House campaigners facing serious challenges.

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The individual at the top of the ticket set ups the party's image, orders the national message and can drive turnout — both of their ain protagonists and the resistance — and such as factors can easily do the difference in stopping point Congressional elections.

Given those considerations, there is an interesting development on Washington Hill. Publicly and privately, some senior Republicans are beginning to show the position that former New House Of House Of York City Mayor may be the Republican campaigner who supplies the most aid to Republican Congressional campaigners who necessitate it the most.

Here's the theory: As a well-known New York figure, Mr. Giuliani begins with an contiguous advantage in parts of the Northeast, where Republicans will be defending the seating they didn't lose in 2006 and trying to acquire a few back. And the same moderate Giuliani stances on abortion, cheery rights and other issues that disquieted conservative Republicans play well with the more than than moderate Republicans the political party is going to necessitate in the bluish and violet states.

"There is no inquiry that he assists us in New England and Keystone State and the Rust Belt," said one senior Congressional Republican who did not desire to be identified since he have got to work with all the Republican challengers as well as the eventual nominee.

That functionary and others state Mr. Giuliani is a much easier sell than some of his rivals in states like Connecticut, where Republicans lost two House seating in 2006, and New Jersey, where Democrats have thoughts about ousting a Republican incumbent or two.

One of his top Congressional backers, Representative Simon Peter King of New York, could not hold more. Mr. King said having Mr. Giuliani on the ballot could be a important aid in holding on to Republican seating in his place state and would heighten opportunities of getting back some of the three lost last year. He said it could be even more than of import to have got Mr. Giuliani on the ballot if the Democratic campaigner is Senator , World Health Organization would certainly energize Democratic electors in New York.

"He is going to bring forth a big ballot in Republican districts, which intends Republican officeholders would be in much better shape," said Mr. King, who incidentally is one of those Republican incumbents.

Mr. Giuliani's entreaty to Republicans up for re-election who like to emphasize their moderate certificate was apparent Thursday in the determination by Senator of Gopher State to back him. Mr. Coleman is a indigen New Yorker and a former city manager himself so the necktie is natural. But Mr. Coleman said he believes Mr. Giuliani stand ups the best opportunity of carrying Gopher State -- a state where Democrats have got been making additions in Congressional mental representation -- and perhaps carrying Mr. Coleman along as well.

"We are all impacted by the top of the ticket," said Mr. Coleman. "It is always better not to be swimming against a large tide. It is really of import to me."

Mr. Giuliani's declared angels in United States Congress include Californians who could profit from a more than than moderate societal character as well as House members from Washington, Wolverine State and Pennsylvania.

Former Bay State Governor may have got more Congressional blurbs and is also a well known name in New England. But Mr. Romney have sought to rewrite the moderate record he compiled in the Bay State as he seeks to broaden his entreaty to Republicans countrywide and that, conversely, might not play well with more than middle-of-the-road Northeastern voters. Mr. Romney did draw a new Congressional blurb this week, that of Senator , Republican of New Hampshire. But that confederation was more than of import to Mr. Romney than to Mr. Gregg given the New Hampshire primary.

Democrats profess that Mr. Giuliani could conceivably have got some regional, down-ticket advantages. But they reason that he could be a nett negative since he could deter Republican turnout in more than conservative parts of the Midwest, South and West, hurting Republican campaigners and boosting vulnerable Democrats.

"In some of the most contested areas, Giuliani on the ballot may maintain their people at home," said Representative Saint Christopher Avant Garde Hollen of Maryland, president of the Democratic Congressional Political Campaign Committee. "The portion of the electorate they have got counted on in these stopping point territories may make up one's mind to sit down it out."

Mr. King differences that notion, saying Republicans in conservative territories should not see adequate Giuliani erosion, if any, to impact their races. "They are going to win or lose anyway on their own," he said.

Regardless of how it plays out, it states something about the current state of Congressional Republicans when a grouping that drew its modern personal identity from the conservative South looks for aid from a adult male indelibly linked to New House Of York City.

Grim Prospects 50 Days Before Presidential Election

The 17th presidential election is just around the corner. Fifty years hence, Koreans must head to the polls and cast of characters their ballots to take their adjacent president. Under normal circumstances, all the presidential campaigners should have got been chosen by now and they should be in the concluding phase of convincing the public of the virtues of their political campaign pledges and the chopine of their several political parties. But so far, we don¡¯t even have got a clear thought of what exactly lies ahead.

During the 2002 election, the opinion political party decided on a presidential campaigner with lone 24 years left until election day. And on the Eve of the presidential election, one of the two presidential campaigners of the opinion party, who had formed a coalition, ended up splitting. It looks like this presidential election is going to be a repetition of the last one. Such events, which would be more than appropriate for a Third World country, have got been happening again and again during Korea¡¯s presidential elections.

Currently in the resistance camp, Spike Lee Hoi-chang is considering whether he should do a 3rd effort at running for president. Spike Spike Lee is believed to be weighing that option because he experiences he must register himself as a pinch hitter, since Thousand National Party presidential campaigner Lee Myung-bak¡¯s command confronts uncertainties. This logic for running for the presidential term is unheard of anywhere in the world. If Spike Lee Hoi-chang had these considerations in mind, he should have got got announced his command before the GNP¡¯s primary and should have been scrutinized. His behaviour is as good as to disdain for the consequences of the GNP¡¯s primary. Judging from his behavior, there is no end to the political aspiration of Lee, who lost the presidential command twice owed to his rival¡¯s failure to accept the party¡¯s primary and internal division.

The lone ground why Spike Spike Lee Hoi-chang tin draw this off is because Lee Myung-bak have failed to unite the resistance encampment both psychologically and in substance. Spike Lee Myung-bak have risen to a strategical place powered by the public's want for alteration in Korea¡¯s leadership. But it stays a inquiry just how much clip and energy Spike Lee Myung-bak spent over the last two calendar months trying to unify the resistance camp, and whether he have even thought about how of import such as a consolidative attempt would be for the presidential election.

The opinion camp, meanwhile, is once again banking everything on forming a alliance of presidential candidates. Since the twenty-four hours it nominated Chung Dong-young, the United New Democratic Party have been voicing its desire to constitute A alliance with presidential campaigners Rhee In-je of the Democratic Party or Moon Kook-hyun, a former Yuhan Kimberley executive. Even though it cognizes that such as an enactment decreases the lustre of its ain candidate, the opinion party, which commands a bulk 150 seating in the National Assembly, is desperately seeking to constitute a alliance with a campaigner from a political political political party with less than 1/10 of the seating in parliament and a campaigner who have no political association at all. This cannot go on unless powerful military units are at work behind the scenes. Those powerful military units may be happy that the resistance encampment is splitting, while the opinion encampment is uniting. But the public have completely lost involvement in fielding a alliance of candidates.

This presidential election will make up one's mind the hereafter of Korea, which stand ups at a crossroads. And although that determination lies just in presence of us, the public is still not able to acquire a clear image of who the presidential campaigners are. It is a sad state of affairs.