Rajd Prezydenta

“Poles outside large urban areas have much higher regard for direct contact than apartment bloc dwellers do. That’s why, from the standpoint of political marketing, this tactic makes sense,” said Mirosław Obarski, commenting upon Lech Kaczyński’s visits to such towns as Wisła, Krotoszyn, Nysa, Dębica, Wejherowo, Puck and Skwierzyna for Rzeczpospolita and Życie Warszawy.

The president’s road show and face-to-face meetings with voters are typical tools of political marketing, though they are characteristic of advanced election campaigns. It should be noted that the electorate of PiS, the party the president comes from, largely consists of people who live in small towns. Direct contact with a politician, and all the more with the president, is always an event and has a chance to positively impact behavior in the voting booth, particularly that of loyal voters from small towns. To recapitulate: the tactic of collecting small points is well chosen. But will it suffice ahead of the looming presidential elections?

President Lech Kaczyński has been systematically criss-crossing the country for many months, visiting small towns as well as large conurbations. The article “Prezydencki rajd po kraju” [The President’s Rally around the Country], published in Rzeczpospolita and Życie Warszawy, mentions that the president has already visited 33 cities and towns. But only recently have the effects become evident – an uptick in the previously declining support for the president.

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