It has emerged that Antonio Sola, a political consultant from the Madrid firm Ostos & Sola, has been advising Rajoy since September on the campaign trail.
Sola is a conservative political consultant of the neocon school. He has advised campaigns in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Guatemala. But where his campaign skills have been more prominent was in the last Mexican presidential campaign when he got Felipe Calderon elected president. He was the creator of Calderon's campaign slogans such as 'Citizens behind bars, criminals on the streets' and 'A firm hand, passion for Mexico'.
Sola copies the campaigning style of Lynton Crosby and Karl Rove by using demagogy, manipulation and sensationalism to appeal to the emotional core of voters in issues such as immigration or religion. That will explain Rajoy's latest turn to a tough agenda on immigration, abortion and gay marriages among others. His business partner, Gloria Ostos, has been behind several of the so-called 'spontaneous' demonstrations of the religious right since 2004.
Sola is a close friend of Jose Maria Aznar and collaborates with the neocon FAES thinktank. If PP has got Sola, PSOE should be alert, his campaign style is tough and difficult to beat, PSOE will need to rebutt all the demagogy and populism with clear and concise messages. It also seems now Rajoy has made his mind up about the debates, he's blocking the negotiations because he knows he's weak in face-to-face debates. I think he's ready to avoid a debate to focus on populist messages against the Socialist more complex policy proposals.
It's going to be a close race.
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