C.Y. Leung should see hope in city's under-represented moderates
Bernard Chan says Leung's only hope is to appeal to the moderates
I recently read a shocking quote from a top member of Mitt Romney's team in the US presidential election: "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers." He admitted that his team would aim to mislead voters; after all, the rival Barack Obama camp had done the same.
Commentators noted during the 2012 race that false claims in negative TV adverts were less likely to be corrected or withdrawn than before. Campaigns can now get away with falsehoods.
The polarisation of the US electorate means that some voters might not even know a lie when they hear it, or refuse to believe facts.
People increasingly get their information from their own "echo chamber" of TV, radio talk shows and blogs. Conservatives watch Fox TV, while liberals watch comedy news shows - both are heavily biased. The US ends up with two separate electorates. Some commentators say Democrats and Republicans even mix less socially these days.
So some voters might be convinced that Obama is dangerous, un-American and leading the country down the road to "European socialism". Others, meanwhile, believe Romney was dedicated only to the 1 per cent of richest Americans and would eradicate basic welfare safety nets.
Watching from Hong Kong, I thought both candidates were probably more moderate than both their friends and enemies claimed. But the worst thing was the lack of the common ground needed for a serious debate.
