A dramatized resignation to try to take flight

BarcelonaSince he decided to call elections in the heat of the housing mobilizations, Pedro Sánchez has lost two of his most prized squires: the PSOE spokesperson, Montse Mínguez, due to her partner's real estate dealings, and now the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, his most effective media battering ram, due to the terrible Urda accident that has claimed 69 lives. On paper, no political leader can survive such a disastrous start to an electoral pre-campaign. However, within the catastrophe, Sánchez has found a way to turn Puente's resignation into a kind of lever to take flight again, or at least attempt to.

The strategy was to design a dramatized resignation until the very last moment. By not resigning during the first few days, which was the logical option, Puente managed to shift the focus from management errors to the assumption of political responsibility. People, rather than wondering what had failed at the control center, were saying: "How can it be that the minister does not resign? Are they all the same?" Seen in perspective, all of Puente's speech yesterday in Congress was focused on the dramatic ending it had. He turned his farewell speech into a rally, a harangue, and looking into the eyes of the popular deputies, burdened at this point by not having forced Mazón to resign in his day, he came to tell them: we, the socialists, are not like you.

Pedro Sánchez has emphasized this idea in his appearance. And during the campaign, his mantra will be that they, the socialists, do indeed assume responsibilities. The PP tried to react this morning by pointing at Sánchez, but in reality, they fell into the trap: yesterday they acted as extras in a theatrical but effective stage performance. Even so, it is impossible to return to the pre-Urda moment of the campaign. And, at La Moncloa, seeing the results of Lula, the semi-defeat of Netanyahu, and now the collapse of Trump, they must be thinking: what would have happened if...