Pio Garcia Escudero and Juan Costa, PP chief electoral strategists have decided that it is time for PP to take the long-awaited road to moderation four months before election day.
They believe that many centrist voters in Spain aren't fully convinced with Zapatero's Government. The main reason has been the difficulty the Government has had to explain the territorial reforms undertaken during this term. Certainly PP's permanent harsh criticism of Government policy has taken a toll on how the public sees the Socialist Government. Both Escudero and Costa believe it is time to cash in those centrist voters that aren't very happy with Zapatero but wouldn't yet vote PP because of its radicalism in this past term.
The new PP electoral timetable focuses exclusively on Rajoy. PP believes they can remind voters of the moderate profile Rajoy used to have before this term and they aim at achieving that by producing a extremely personalistic campaign from January onwards. Rajoy knows this is his last chance, so equating his personal image to the verdict in the ballot box isn't a risk worth avoiding anymore. The results from the 2007 local elections are also encouraging this strategy as PP did much better (winning in overall votes but losing power share) with Rajoy as the centre of the campaign rather than the party as a whole. So this Wednesday during the weekly session to monitor Government action, Rajoy for the first time in a long time is going to ask about the economy rather than ETA. First move.
But, what about the hardliners? Rajoy's squires in Parliament, Zaplana and Acebes, have proven very useful in the legislative strategy designed by PP this term of permanent confrontation. But it's time for them to go. If you think this means the end of them, you will be very much mistaken. They simply aren't electorally attractive anymore but their brains are very much appreaciated by Rajoy and will definitely coming back into the Cabinet if PP wins the election.
That's PP's reality today, hide the confrontation and the extremists today so they can bring them out tomorrow in power. But will the extremist lot keep quite until March? I very much doubt so and then we will be able to see the real wolf underneath the sheep's clothing. If they start going off message Rajoy will confirm what everyone already suspects that he cannot control his own party. And by the way, where is Aznar?
They believe that many centrist voters in Spain aren't fully convinced with Zapatero's Government. The main reason has been the difficulty the Government has had to explain the territorial reforms undertaken during this term. Certainly PP's permanent harsh criticism of Government policy has taken a toll on how the public sees the Socialist Government. Both Escudero and Costa believe it is time to cash in those centrist voters that aren't very happy with Zapatero but wouldn't yet vote PP because of its radicalism in this past term.
The new PP electoral timetable focuses exclusively on Rajoy. PP believes they can remind voters of the moderate profile Rajoy used to have before this term and they aim at achieving that by producing a extremely personalistic campaign from January onwards. Rajoy knows this is his last chance, so equating his personal image to the verdict in the ballot box isn't a risk worth avoiding anymore. The results from the 2007 local elections are also encouraging this strategy as PP did much better (winning in overall votes but losing power share) with Rajoy as the centre of the campaign rather than the party as a whole. So this Wednesday during the weekly session to monitor Government action, Rajoy for the first time in a long time is going to ask about the economy rather than ETA. First move.
But, what about the hardliners? Rajoy's squires in Parliament, Zaplana and Acebes, have proven very useful in the legislative strategy designed by PP this term of permanent confrontation. But it's time for them to go. If you think this means the end of them, you will be very much mistaken. They simply aren't electorally attractive anymore but their brains are very much appreaciated by Rajoy and will definitely coming back into the Cabinet if PP wins the election.
That's PP's reality today, hide the confrontation and the extremists today so they can bring them out tomorrow in power. But will the extremist lot keep quite until March? I very much doubt so and then we will be able to see the real wolf underneath the sheep's clothing. If they start going off message Rajoy will confirm what everyone already suspects that he cannot control his own party. And by the way, where is Aznar?
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