The most prestigious poll in Spain, CIS, has given PSOE an advantage of just 1.5 points over PP in voting intention for the March 9 election.
Although Zapatero's personal numbers are high and Rajoy's are pathetically low, conservative PP keeps closing the gap as election day draws closer. The official campaign hasn't started yet, we haven't had debates yet, but PP's campaign is light years ahead of PSOE's, and that is worrying me a lot more than our programme being far ahead of theirs.
Noone debates the fact that this election is crucial, for us is about further modernisation both social and economic, for PP is about rolling back social liberalism and getting back their caciquist control of the economy.
Today however we saw how things can change and PSOE can hit back at PP. Felipe Gonzalez, former President from 1982 to 1996, has shown the way and PSOE leadership should follow his line. He stood up in a podium in Barcelona and bashed every single PP leader hard, where it hurts. Stop the nice-guy campaigning, it has failed us and can make us lose the election. If they are nasty so can we be. Spain is definitely left-leaning that's why PSOE has a comparative electoral advantage, conservatives know it as well and they have gone negative. They are gaining ground day by day, their noise neutralises our message. We need to hit back and we need to do it soon. Maybe Gonzalez should join the electoral team, he's the best and most experience campainger this party has and we need him now. There's a reason why he won four elections in a row. Time to wake up, the CIS poll this week has given as a warning next one could be too late.
Showing posts with label Gonzalez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gonzalez. Show all posts
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Rajoy praises Aznar's archenemy.
Rajoy has praised Felipe Gonzalez, Spanish Socialist President from 1982 to 1996, as a man who has good ideas for Europe. He has welcomed Gonzalez candidacy as chairman of the new group of experts to look into the future of the EU.
And I wonder... why wasn't Aznar considered for this post? It was Nicolas Sarkozy, the French right-wing President, who proposed Gonzalez for the post. Why didn't he proposed Aznar? I'll tell you why, because no European right-wing leader would even dare having a photo-op taken with Aznar. He has become the toxic neo-con kind of leader. Rajoy would have loved to have Aznar rather than Gonzalez, but seeing that it was almost impossible for it to happen, well...he though he might as well praise Gonzalez's election as 'an honour for Spain'. I would say, cut it short Mariano and say it as it is, PSOE today is the only well respected Spanish party in Europe, both within the left and the right ideological spectrum.
And I wonder... why wasn't Aznar considered for this post? It was Nicolas Sarkozy, the French right-wing President, who proposed Gonzalez for the post. Why didn't he proposed Aznar? I'll tell you why, because no European right-wing leader would even dare having a photo-op taken with Aznar. He has become the toxic neo-con kind of leader. Rajoy would have loved to have Aznar rather than Gonzalez, but seeing that it was almost impossible for it to happen, well...he though he might as well praise Gonzalez's election as 'an honour for Spain'. I would say, cut it short Mariano and say it as it is, PSOE today is the only well respected Spanish party in Europe, both within the left and the right ideological spectrum.
Saturday, 15 December 2007
No courage in British Labour.
If you'll excuse me I am going to talk a little bit about something else today. I was considering putting a little remark about Felipe Gonzalez, former Socialist President of Spain from 1982 to 1996, being selected by EU leaders as the chair of a group of European experts to look into the long term future of the Union. But then reading the British press I found attacks on Prime Minister Gordon Brown by the Conservative shadow Europe minister, Mark Francois, for 'opening a pandora's box with the election of an old Spanish socialist' to lead this group.
As it has become the common norm in the British Labour Party, besides within its group of very courageous MEPs, they didn't respond to the attack. So I have decided to, modestly, do it for them.
If Mark Francois would honour his title by knowing a little bit about European politics he would realise that Felipe Gonzalez isn't an old socialist by any means. In 1979 during the 28th PSOE National Congress Felipe Gonzalez defended the removal of any mention to Marxism in the party's Constitution, similar to Blair's removal of Labour's clause 4. He famously gave an ultimatum, 'Marxism or me', and after the party voted against his proposal resigned as leader. Later in the year the party decide to scrap the clause on Marxism and Gonzalez came back as leader. Furthermore, he undertook structural reforms in several industries that modernised the Spanish economy, without the disastrous consequences of Thatcherite reforms. He also took on the trade unions when he had to and got Spain into NATO. So Mark Francois should really think twice about making such innacurate statements if he's hoping to be taken seriously at any point in his career.
But going back to the title of this entry, the British Labour Party has no courage when it comes to its European policy. Why are they letting themselves been attacked continously on EU policy? Why are they not saying what they expect from Europe and what they can contribute to it? Political leadership is about shaping people's perception on issues when one believes he's right. Labour is the pro-European party in Britain and should be saying so out loud. Where are the high-profile rebuttal of innacurate information by the Tories, UKip and the right-wing press? Britain is by far the most Euro-sceptical country in the EU and when the Labour party stops defending the benefits Britain has got from Europe the fight gets tougher and tougher. Brown cannot be late for a signing and cannot play down the issue, he should be proud of what he has accomplished and explain how Britain is going to benefit. How British people want more transparency in Europe and that's what the Lisbon Treaty does. How a common market is free market and how many British enjoy welfare benefits on holidays in Portugal, Spain or France because of the EU. Etc, etc, etc. Labour thinks they can avoid Europe and be ok, but every time Europe comes up in the politica agenda they will be attacked and at some point they might want to bang their fist on the table and speak the truth to Eurosceptic right-wingers. Internationalism is left-wing and Socialist parties in Europe are friends no foes of Labour and they should start acknowledging that.
There was a time Labour was seeing unelectable because of being loony lefties and Blair changed that. It is time Brown stops apologising for being in the EU and starts to change British attitudes towards it, for the sake of Britain, Europe and the British Labour party.
As it has become the common norm in the British Labour Party, besides within its group of very courageous MEPs, they didn't respond to the attack. So I have decided to, modestly, do it for them.
If Mark Francois would honour his title by knowing a little bit about European politics he would realise that Felipe Gonzalez isn't an old socialist by any means. In 1979 during the 28th PSOE National Congress Felipe Gonzalez defended the removal of any mention to Marxism in the party's Constitution, similar to Blair's removal of Labour's clause 4. He famously gave an ultimatum, 'Marxism or me', and after the party voted against his proposal resigned as leader. Later in the year the party decide to scrap the clause on Marxism and Gonzalez came back as leader. Furthermore, he undertook structural reforms in several industries that modernised the Spanish economy, without the disastrous consequences of Thatcherite reforms. He also took on the trade unions when he had to and got Spain into NATO. So Mark Francois should really think twice about making such innacurate statements if he's hoping to be taken seriously at any point in his career.
But going back to the title of this entry, the British Labour Party has no courage when it comes to its European policy. Why are they letting themselves been attacked continously on EU policy? Why are they not saying what they expect from Europe and what they can contribute to it? Political leadership is about shaping people's perception on issues when one believes he's right. Labour is the pro-European party in Britain and should be saying so out loud. Where are the high-profile rebuttal of innacurate information by the Tories, UKip and the right-wing press? Britain is by far the most Euro-sceptical country in the EU and when the Labour party stops defending the benefits Britain has got from Europe the fight gets tougher and tougher. Brown cannot be late for a signing and cannot play down the issue, he should be proud of what he has accomplished and explain how Britain is going to benefit. How British people want more transparency in Europe and that's what the Lisbon Treaty does. How a common market is free market and how many British enjoy welfare benefits on holidays in Portugal, Spain or France because of the EU. Etc, etc, etc. Labour thinks they can avoid Europe and be ok, but every time Europe comes up in the politica agenda they will be attacked and at some point they might want to bang their fist on the table and speak the truth to Eurosceptic right-wingers. Internationalism is left-wing and Socialist parties in Europe are friends no foes of Labour and they should start acknowledging that.
There was a time Labour was seeing unelectable because of being loony lefties and Blair changed that. It is time Brown stops apologising for being in the EU and starts to change British attitudes towards it, for the sake of Britain, Europe and the British Labour party.
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