[Opinion by PetersideDakuku] Crowd for hire: Election campaign rallies as a metaphor via thecableng
effective game plan for the parties, and it is one strategy that cuts across all parties. All political parties are outdoing themselves in winning the popularity contests typified by pulling a crowd with the most outrageous noises and boisterous displays in rallies on the streets, roads, stadiums, and other venues that can contain crowds. If pulling crowds is the determinant of election outcomes, the 2023 general elections would have been won and lost.
Sourcing for a crowd is fast turning into an industry in politics. In the United States, there are companies in the enterprise of mobilising crowds. Crowds on Demand and Crowd for Rent are US companies, and Envisage Promotion is a UK company, all set up purposely to provide crowds to support political and socio-economic causes. Even a Kenyan author wrote a book, ‘Crowd for Hire — How Kenyan politicians source Crowds for events’.
Our parties have no known ideologies, and attraction to them is often based on either parochial or mundane sentiments. This anomaly is counterproductive during electioneering campaigns when people see all political activities as making money, consolidating political capital, and gaining political patronage. Some in the crowd want to have fun, love the atmosphere and fun activities during rallies and want to participate.
A rally crowd has its usefulness, but there are other measures of popular support. Money is the language the public understands. What politicians may need to understand is that time has changed, and the world has also changed. The level of civic enlightenment and the mindset of the electorate has changed. And the influence of social media has impacted people’s attitudes towards the electoral process. Crowd renting may not have a significant effect on the electoral outcome of the 2023 election.
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