Among the candidates for mayor, only Dariusz Kwaśniewski has engaged in discussion with internet users under his own name. He is also supported by Cezariusz Rudyk under his own name, and recently by Arkadiusz Krzemiński as well. Grzegorz Kunecki, the PSL candidate, comments from time to time on an article or piece of information, or sends someone his best wishes. Dominik Chodyra also tried to join a discussion on the forum, but nobody engaged with him. Bogusław Nowak’s campaign team is the most active on the forums. It posts under the nicknames Paco (with Nowak’s dog Paco as the avatar) and Palikot (with a cat as the avatar). As Paco assured users, after internet users insisted, the people behind the nickname are campaign staff members: Danuta Maślicka, Tomasz Gołba, Wojciech Kostulski, Bernard Łętowski and Bogusław Nowak; some council-candidate nominees have also joined the work of the core campaign team. We do not know, however, which Paco post belongs to whom. In general, supporters of all committees write anonymously, praising their own candidates while criticizing or attacking their opponents.
The attacks are often crude or simply vulgar, with a personal edge. Bolesławiec is a small city. It is not difficult here to learn about the private lives of election candidates and reveal a little of what is hidden. “His wife does not even need a loudspeaker to attract attention among the parishioners,” an anonymous internet user writes about one of the councilors, naming him. Another female councilor is also described bluntly: “[…] her greed is so great that even if she had to crawl, she would not let go.”
Another internet user suggests sending one candidate to rehab: “I suggest sending him for addiction treatment, taking into account alcoholic deafness and blindness.” We can also read about a candidate for mayor: “You are indeed an able and effective local-government official—for yourself (one term and that’s it, a ‘modest’ little house at [tu nazwa ulicy – przyp. red.]” or about another: “he is a hothead, a radical, an arrogant man and a nervous wreck.”
In real life, however, we will not find a single party or non-party committee that does not assure us of its disgust with an aggressive campaign. Love therefore surrounds us, and our candidates and their campaign teams want only to build, unite, bring people together and foster partnership—all for the residents. They are so filled with love for people that not even a drop of hatred can fit inside them. On the internet, anonymously, tempers flare. But after all, these are just some tildes, with which the campaign teams want to have nothing to do and indeed have nothing to do.
We must apparently take their word for it that these are ordinary citizens who, at home—after work, collecting their children from schools and preschools, doing the shopping and housework, and tearing themselves away from their favorite television programs—throw themselves at their computer keyboards to anonymously attack the opponents of their beloved candidate. And they do it because they care about their own better future.
These same ordinary citizens also write praise for the candidates. Although the percentage of praise under other items of information is generally negligible, the ordinary citizen changes during an election. When an item concerns a candidate, citizens usually feel the need to express warm support for them. Time and again, some anonymous female citizen together with a male citizen posts words of encouragement and support for the candidates and praises their character. Most interestingly, they know their achievements and platform exactly, even though this knowledge is not widespread, and finding information about the candidates and their activities requires a great deal of effort—if only reading a website or blog.
This year, for the first time, internet forums were largely taken over by campaign teams conducting crude propaganda and fighting there. In the course of it, powerful emotions and the uncontrolled aggression associated with them come to light. Most importantly, there is a lack of perspective: toward themselves, their platform, and their local-government or political activity. When an idea, platform or action is criticized, it is taken personally, as an attack on a specific person.
The online campaign on the forums appears to be a safety valve and an outlet for the aggression that arises in political combat. Pretending to love everyone and wish everyone well—especially when it concerns a vital interest such as winning an election—could end badly if not for anonymity on the internet. There, people can vent the excess of affection they display toward a competitor. Fury is poured out on the forums, showing how deeply the campaign teams are involved and how determined they are to win after all. Thanks to this, in real life they manage to preserve the appearance that victory does not matter to them so desperately. And that it is only an election, while there are more important things. Although at present there is no matter more important than who will manage the city and county, and how, for the next four years. The emotions connected with this are entirely appropriate. It would simply be better to learn to speak about them and control them than to hide aggression behind an anonymous nickname while signing one’s name to cordiality. The fury is genuine, whereas the cordiality appears insincere in this contest.
Grażyna Hanaf