March 7, 2008
Election sloganeering in Madrid
It is not just the US that is holding elections. There is a Spanish general election on Sunday and the streets of Madrid are festooned with campaign posters.
Spanish political slogans have lost a little of their élan, since the civil war and the days of “No pasaran”. The main parties in this election have clearly run out of inspiration on the sloganeering front. Outside my hotel is a huge banner for the centre-right Popular Party, featuring its smiling, bearded leader, Mariano Rajoy. The line on the poster is “Clear ideas, with Rajoy it’s possible.” The main slogan being used by the governing Socialist Party translates as “We are the majority”. To which the obvious response is: well, we’ll see about that on Sunday, won’t we?
Actually, most political analysts are, in fact predicting a narrow victory for the socialist government of Jose Zapatero. At a panel in Madrid yesterday morning, four out of the five panellists predicted a Socialist (PSOE) victory; just one panellist thought that the PP might make it. This is hardly surprising since the PSOE have been ahead in every poll for months, even when polls are adjusted to take account for the reluctance of some conservative voters to own up to their political preferences.
If the PP do fail to make a breakthrough, they should kick themselves. There are plenty of things in today’s Spain that should work well for a rightwing opposition party: the economy is faltering and there has been huge illegal immigration. These themes have come to the fore in recent weeks. Who knows - they might yet produce a surprise on Sunday.
come on. The slogans are actually pretty good. PP refers to the fact that people don’t trust Zap. PSOE is saying we’re going to win anyway, so don’t bother to vote. I agree turnout will be low, but that is the personalities of the two candidates more than anything. PP’s problems have more to do with fact that 1) they may have some crazies lurking in the background and 2) Rajoy is not an effective campaigner. The immigration issue is just a way to get the lower middle class to vote PP — but there is little sign that is working. The nationality issue is a lot more potent.
Posted by: charlie | March 7th, 2008 at 7:23 pm | Report this commentI think this election should prove to be a bellwether of sorts for EU immigration politics and policies.. I am not so sure that playing the immigration card won’t work. To many voters, Spain’s economic downturn is linked DIRECTLY to Zapatero’s liberal immigration policies. Even more see a linkage to Spain’s security concerns, e.g,2004 Madrid bombings. ( Mr. Rachman, I really think this is the perfect time for you to make good on your promise to write a piece on immigration…I have been very patient…but really it is never good to keep a lady waiting! after all, you said you would write this piece some time ago after you had just spent the weekend at the country manor with all those think- tanky types!
Of course with Kosovo now ,there are more separatist tensions and that will matter. This election will probably be very close and totally depend on voter turnout. I read the Catholic church is asking its members to not vote for Zapatero due to the legalization of gay marriage. Zaptero needs a high turn out in voters to prevail …we shall see shortly …but this is an important election for trend watchers …those political “cool hunters” running about!
Posted by: Lisa-Helene Lawson | March 7th, 2008 at 10:54 pm | Report this commentAt least when I read Gideon’s columns on Spain, one cannot sense that his impressions come from vacations along the Marbella coast line. I doubt Gideon is too concerned about Spanish house prices, and his positions on Kosovo suggest he is rather soft on human trafficking and Westphalian world order. So, maybe it is that there are too many Gulfies berthed in Puerto Vanuz.
It is nonetheless dismaying to sense that this column’s positioning may have been agreed in a Monday morning “editorial” meeting with his Neocon mate Hitchens et al. It is odd how there is an implicit embracing of the Catholic Church’s global strategy behind all this.
Spanish voters do not need global guidance, but they are indeed vulnerable to external meddling.
We live in troubling times.
The latest reading recommendation from Gideon on essays by Christopher Hitchens confirmed that I have been blogging in the wrong space. With Obama finished, and so little acknowledgment by GR of the merits of the policy contributions he and his team have made, I realise it is time to focus on corners closer to home and save my thoughts for passing chats. Thanks for the time hats off to the many worthy contributors here.
Posted by: WCM | March 8th, 2008 at 2:37 pm | Report this commentGideon,
You’ve kinda put your foot in it on Spanish politics I’m afraid. You certainly aren’t the first.
What it is really all about, in telegraphese, is a class struggle between the new, post development, middle class that is represented by the PSOE and the old pre-development elites (including the church) which backed (engendered) Franco in the civil war and beyond.
See the FT leader “Spain’s Choice”
“The PP’s problem is that its current leaders have not completed their journey from Francoist roots to a modern centre-right.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ae6b920-e886-11dc-913a-0000779fd2ac.html
The bigger the turnout, the bigger the majority for the PSOE. The PP only wins when there is high abstention. Yesterday’s terrorist attack will probably mean a higher turnout.
Posted by: David Seaton | March 8th, 2008 at 8:07 pm | Report this commentwell yet another country, yet another election showing plague of polarization has infected the body politic…The Socialists held on …it will be interesting to see vote breakdown by gender, geography, age and income and compare it to last elections…I am wondering, and just wondering at this point, as obviously no statistics are in yet, if women made the difference here in who can claim victory…
Posted by: Lisa-Helene Lawson | March 10th, 2008 at 1:18 am | Report this commentAnother Spanish general election fought on humdrum issues like the economy. No echoes of military takeovers, civil wars etc. that would have been expected 25-30 years ago. Nor does anybody think that there will be such nonsense in future.
I think this is a measure of gradual progress that the Spaniards can be proud of.
P
Posted by: Pacifist | March 10th, 2008 at 4:20 pm | Report this comment[…] sous English and taggé: politics On the eve of yesterday’s election, Gideon Rachman wrote: If the PP do fail to make a breakthrough, they should kick themselves. There are plenty of things […]
Posted by: The should kick themselves « Langue, language, lengua, Sprache, язык, język, keel | March 10th, 2008 at 5:14 pm | Report this comment