It’s not nice to imagine someone chopped. That is why statistics usually have a bad fix if we transfer them to flesh and blood; but let’s try: on May 28, three and a half people out of ten gave up voting. We may have gotten used to such a large segment of the population ignoring appointments to the polls, but I don’t think it’s a healthy practice. That is why I hope and wish that the antibodies that a democracy is supposed to react on July 23. That day the mother of all battles will be fought, an expression popularized by the late saddam hussein in the first Gulf War. Today, the mother of all battles is ventilated in the so-called “cultural war & rdquor ;; an invention imported from the ultra-right in the United States, which has inoculated us with the virus of polarization and which drives away any hint of rational debate.
The “culture war & rdquor; it’s a catchall -or an arsenal- where feminism, the ‘procés’, religion, family, LGTBI rights, abortion, educational freedom coexist… Montagues against Capulets. Emotions and feelings as ammunition. Social networks turned into tribalism 4.0. The DNA of this “culture war & rdquor ;, actually a ideological war, invites to turn the adversary into an enemy. “Sanchez or Spain & rdquor; and “Let Txapote vote for you& rdquor; would be two clear examples of this dynamic in which Ayuso has worn Feijóo by the halter throughout the campaign. And that she has had -and will have- the invaluable sounding board of many Madrid media. Spur anger to stimulate the vote. And Sánchez’s response, asking the Spanish if they want a president who is “with Biden, or with Trump & rdquor ;, confirms that he agrees to enter the ring under those rules. He also seeks to stimulate outrage. From there, as in boxing, you can win by KO, or on points. But in addition to the pissed off and outraged on each side, the three and a half voters out of ten who stayed at home the other day are possibly decisive in seeing how the smacks are distributed.