 Aside from painting Bảo Đại as a sexually insatiable glutton , Diệm 's campaign also attacked the head of state 's nationalist credentials . They criticised him as being too soft in his dealings with French colonial authorities , and for serving as the head of state of the Empire of Vietnam , a puppet regime set up by Imperial Japan after they invaded during World War II . They also accused him of ceding half the country to the communists . The communists had already captured more than half the country on the battlefield , and Diệm claimed he had no choice , but Diệm 's campaign portrayed him as incompetent and unwilling to take the blame . 
