A new style of campaign, show included

MadridThis general election campaign will go down in history. It will, without a doubt, if, as almost all polls say, the right and the far-right win and form a government. But the date of November 29th will also leave a mark due to the change in the candidates' habits in their effort to reach the citizenry, especially young people. The traditional rally is preserved, although in increasingly smaller dimensions. The big breakthrough is the alternative use of television formats known as "infotainment" or comedy shows. Bets are accepted on the real utility of these appearances, but what is not in dispute is their level of penetration and following. The most positive thing about going to La revuelta, to El hormiguero or to El perro andaluzis that many people watch it, the usual audience of each of these programs, and also those who are not clients of these formulas. The anticipation is understandable, because these are new initiatives, at least in such a high degree of attendance and engagement. What I am not so sure about is that interviews of this kind are decisive in the sense of the vote. A rally neither, of course, but that is because mainly those who are already convinced go to the rallies.

Deep down, the resort to the late-night television appearance in jeans or without a tie –depending on whether the attendee is from the PSOE or the PP–, implies an acknowledgment of guilt. Pure and hard politics, that of personal attacks and crying to the heavens, is so tiring that its protagonists have to prove that they are capable of showing themselves with another profile, because they have it. The problem is whether they gain credibility with these types of performances. As much as Vox chose the audience that was to accompany their leader's presence on La revuelta, I find it hard to believe that Santiago Abascal managed to win over thousands of new voters with his haughty posture, especially when he wished the program's host, David Broncano, good luck. "You're going to need it," he said ironically. Did the phrase have a threatening content, or can it be interpreted in another way?

Likewise, when Feijóo explained to Pablo Motos, presenter of El hormiguero, that Abascal had not asked him for anything, who could consider that this phrase, said in the middle of the pre-campaign, means that the Popular leader is not worried about the conditions that Vox will set for him if their votes are essential to guarantee his investiture? Precisely, the big question in the hypothesis of a government pact between the PP and Vox is the price that the Popular party will be willing to pay to reach the Moncloa. Everything depends on the numbers, of course, on the resulting parliamentary arithmetic. Feijóo's hope must be that he can repeat Pedro Sánchez's experience, when he made Pablo Iglesias vice president of his government, without giving him power or control over the so-called State ministries, such as Interior, Defense or Economy, or over the National Intelligence Center (CNI).

We can still remember the socialist leader saying that he would not be able to sleep having the same Iglesias as a partner, and later we saw him go through that situation by applying the principle –also in this case– that sometimes it is necessary to make a virtue of necessity. As for Feijóo, the truth is that he distinguished between a first regional legislature, in which he had insoluble problems with Vox, which left the governments of various communities, and the current one. Regarding the present, he stressed that Abascal's party “is complying with the councilors and some of the vice presidents it has” in four executives, so “there is stability” in these relations. The next step was to make an appeal to responsibility to put the ball in Vox's court. He said that, if the election result marks the path “of a necessary change” and the PP does not have a sufficient majority to govern, it will have to complete it, and he was convinced that Vox will have one goal: for there to be a change of government in Spain. However, regarding the possible content of this pact, for the moment not a word, because, on this issue, so far they have not “advanced even a millimeter”.

Government action

As for the PSOE, all the effort focuses on highlighting the autonomy of its government action – demonstrated, for example, by the refusal to allocate 5% of GDP to military spending, contrary to Trump’s dictates – and on emphasizing, above all, the social content of the policy developed during the last eight years of the executive's management, warning of the risk of "regression" if the PP and Vox govern. But two legislative terms weigh heavily, especially due to corruption cases and such important problems as the difficulties in accessing housing, the rise in prices – we continue to see figures very close to 5% – and the unacceptable toll of the serious railway accidents in Adamuz and Urda, with 115 deaths, without forgetting the one in Gelida, also with one death. The Socialists will find it very difficult to lift the burden that these issues represent, and this time without counting on the collaboration of Zapatero. At this point, Manu Sánchez, the presenter of El perro andaluz, pressed a little, and the socialist leader had a hard time getting out of it. He admitted that he had spoken a lot with the former president and that he "did not know" that he had the famous jewels in the safe in his office.

The novelty of these first days of the campaign has been, in the case of the PSOE, the appearance of Begoña Gómez speaking at the opening rally in Seville. The meaning is clear: to seek the vindication of the president's wife, who is being criminally prosecuted in a procedure with a very exaggerated justification and staging. At the same time, the Socialists aspire to repeat their advantage in a field where they have always obtained it, that of the women's vote. Having said all this, the most important thing has been the general strike on the 11th. The country did not come to a standstill, not by a long shot, but the left and the unions obtained a broad response of participation and protest. The acts of violence and damage to businesses and public property were regrettable, as were the multiple cases of disproportionate police action. Ayuso's allusion to the unions as "trash" was pathetic. She will have her work cut out for her to explain to the Court of Auditors the expenditure of the 6.3 million that her government dedicated to the purchase of the penthouse that was supposedly destined for her.