There were two “snags” to his announcement, one of which was to find out if he could prevail in a Democratic primary against former Gov. Carl Gutierrez through polls that he commissioned himself. Apparently, Phillips is confident that he will be able to do so. The second hindrance was the ongoing trial of Gutierrez. The trial might conclude soon and free Phillips up to run.
The only disagreement that I have with the news article is what was posited through a source that “Gutierrez-Aguon should not underestimate a Phillips-Pangelinan ticket.” I think it is the other way around. Consider that Phillips’ predecessor, Dr. Robert Underwood, twice defeated the Sunshine machinery in the primaries of 2002 and 2006 but failed to carry that momentum in the general elections.
The problem with a contest in the Democratic primaries is that some Republicans tend to participate in the Democratic primary and help knock off the stronger ticket.
This year, because of the heated GOP primaries between Senators Calvo and Tenorio matched up against Lt. Gov. Dr. Mike Cruz and Senator Espaldon, there might be a less of a chance of cross-over votes in the Democratic primary because every GOP vote would be crucial to either ticket.
And if there is less of a cross-over play, then it would follow that the team with a bigger machine would prevail, unless if a monkey wrench is thrown into the race (maybe the outcome of the on-going case, for instance). Plus, I doubt if the Sunshine Democratic senators in the Legislature would sit idly by and try not to close the Democratic primaries, forcing Phillips-Pangelinan to compete for some of the Sunshine voters. A difficult proposition, to say the least.
Finally, it should be pointed out that grassroots supporters have the “bunker mentality,” an electoral condition credited to current Gov. Felix Camacho. Nobody picked him to win in 2002 and look where he ended up. So if Phillips hopes to prevail, he needs to develop this bunker mentality and look at himself as the other underdog, which I am sure he would, against not only a two-time governor but also one that has enough supporters who can help throw elections one way or another.
MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam
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