Chilean politicians offer two-second manifesto

November 16, 2009 10:36:59 AM

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Voters tired of slick, endless election campaign broadcasts may finally have a sanctuary: in Chile.

As the South American nation prepares for December 13 elections, some candidates have been allotted as little as two seconds of air-time to put their case to voters.

Tomas Diaz, an independent presidential candidate used his time to say, well, very little.

"I'm Tomas and the most important thing to know about my campaign is..." he said on his television spot before being cut off.

Rodrigo Garcia Pinochet, the grandson of former dictator Augusto Pinochet who is running for congress, tried a different tack, simply posting a photo of himself, his grandfather and his mother onscreen in silence.

Independent candidates have as little as two seconds worth of broadcasts thanks to rules that distribute time according to how a party fared in the previous election.

The unfortunate masses of politicos aiming to make an electoral breakthrough cannot even hope to throw money at the problem, as Chilean laws forbid TV channels from accepting cash for broadcasts.

But they may take some solace in a campaign by Rosa Gonzalez, who was elected after a 1997 broadcast in which she did not manage to finish her name.

And Samuel Velasco memorably shouted "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" in his flicker of a campaign spot. He, too, was elected.

Yet according to one expert, the videos -- of whatever length -- may be incidental in Chilean politics.

"It is by tradition the centerpiece of a political campaign, but that does not mean it would change the vote of the population," said political marketing expert Felipe Vergara.

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