Have you ever wondered why many political parties locally and elsewhere around the world don't reveal their presidential candidate until some few months to an election?
Well, many factors may be at play like the members' inability to agree on the most suitable candidate to fly the party's flag as it was the case with the defunct Nasa Coalition in the run-up to 2017 general election.
However, the delay in announcing a party's presidential candidate, analysts will tell you, is a political strategy other factors held constant.
This is because when you let your candidate known long enough before elections, it exposes him/her to all manner of things like scrutiny, mudslinging, propaganda to name but a few, from competitors, media, civil society among others.
It becomes so bad that when the election time finally comes, your candidate will be reeking of inadequacy, inefficiency among other things that will lead voters to avoid the candidate like leprosy.
This is why it was a tactical blunder by Jubilee Party to have had its presidential candidate for 2022 poll known as early as 2013.
It is, however, good to note that the prevailing political circumstances then made it absolutely necessary for the TNA-URP coalition to make it known to their respective supporters that this merger was about 'scratch my back now, I will scratch yours later'.
That said, does DP William Ruto, the Jubilee party's de facto presidential candidate for 2022 has a reverse mechanism to this blunder that has undoubtedly caused him untold grief?
The answer is a big YES!
Ruto aught to call for a press conference and announce that he has dropped his 2022 presidential bid because he is no longer interested while at the back of his mind he knows it is the exact opposite.
This move will likely make him president in 2022 than staying put and here is why;
1. It will throw his political adversaries, detractors and competitors off-balance
Ruto, a smart politician, by all means, shouldn't shy from borrowing a leaf from Robert Greene's book, 48 Laws of Power, that advises that one key to power is 'concealing your intentions'.
"Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late," Greene states in his widely read book.
2. Absence increases value, respect, and honor
Still, on Greene's book, he notes that too much circulation makes the price go down, thus, the more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. Unfortunately, this is the case with Ruto currently.
"Temporary withdrawal will make you more talked about, even more, admired. Create value through scarcity," Greene adds.
3. It will save him from bad politics
Ruto's supporters especially elected leaders have at many times been quoted on the media as saying that the ongoing anti-graft war is skewed because it only seems to target the DP and his allies.
True or otherwise, it is foolhardy to think that his political detractors won't seize any opportunity that arises to expose Ruto's underbelly.
A withdrawal, therefore, will leave these adversaries keen to scuttle his presidential ambitions with no 'punchball' thus rendering them irrelevant.
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