The plan has a name. “Unity and Management” they titled it who work for what Sergio Massa and Agustín Rossi are the most voted formula of the PASO. That is the first objective. The second, to fight for the presidency.
For that, the Minister of Economy will continue in office, despite the campaign. And she will continue to participate in acts together with the President and her vice president, even though in the first public meeting she has confronted her with De Pedro’s favoritism. “’Wado’ was our candidate,” Cristina Kirchner told him on June 27. Massa did not flinch: he had already achieved the goal.
stages.
“We must continue with the stabilization plan”, was the first order of the small table with the Ministry of Economy. The thing is Only by finding positive economic results will they be able to run a good electoral campaign. They know that from the discursive, is the most exposed candidate: “Sergio Massa is the father of inflation,” said Luis Petri, Patricia Bullrich’s running mate. All the opposition rehearses similar responses.
But the work team already has an argument for that. “Massa took office in an emergency. There was talk of Assembly and helicopter at that time “, contextualize. And they continue: “He avoided the crisis by maintaining economic activity with growth.”
The new inflation targets are much more modest than those announced the previous year: they will try to get the price index to show a figure of less than a 7% monthly increase. With that, Massa will be able to talk about a slowdown. It would be the answer to the fierce critics of the opposition.
In second instance, the economic team awaits the permission of the IMF to have air the next months. If there is an agreement with the Fund, it will be able to comply with the maturities of the debt and with the private bondholders. But it will also be able to control that there are no exchange runs prior to the elections.
“We must continue to order the tax strongly. But that this does not imply an adjustment plan for the working middle class. Without pain on the popular classes as the opposition requests ”, they say in the campaign team. The adjustment before the elections would be a shot in the feet.
The campaign will be riddled with major and minor announcements. What is necessary is, above all, to give good news. Financing agreements, employment increase or tax relief for workers. Everything works.
“Bank the ‘no campaign’ of Massa. I would extend it to no spots”, analyzed the consultant Juan Courel. For the former head of communication of the Frente de Todos, Massa would have to look for the “pretense of normality” from the management and not do proselytizing acts. “The ‘no campaign’ is the only possible path”he added.
In fact, in the path of overreacting with good vibes, Massa’s communication team launched a new modality. After each announcement, they send a sticker from the minister that then goes viral among the phones in the red circle.
Numbers.
Beyond the management, the Minister of Economy believes that he has fertile ground to grow. He has to show that his greatest virtue is political. “He is the leader who achieved order in the Government. That he got a table of agreements, ”says one of his side.
They will try to show that Massa breaks the crack in politics and in the business sectors. His message will be the search for unity. A shift to the center unlike what a Kirchner candidate would have done. For now, the surveys that the ministry shows give it below, but the difference is not exorbitant. The last two that were reviewed on Wednesday the 28th, from Projection and from CB Consultora, They give it to Juntos por el Cambio above Unión por la Patria between 2 and 4 points, rrespectively. In the opposition they assure that the difference is greater.
In the attempt to show himself above the crack, andn massismo they consider that the ideal scenario would be to reach a runoff against Bullrich. It is that there they could fish for the vote of the moderates.
He July 9 will be a key day in his campaign. Independence Day, with celebration through, the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline will be formally inaugurated, that unites Vaca Muerta with Salliqueló. “It is a milestone in Massa’s management, with a public-private articulation,” they say at the small table. And they complete: “It will allow us to also become an energy-exporting country.”
The minister already has a coexistence strategy between his occupations: from Monday to Friday he will be a minister and on weekends a candidate. It is a difficult plan to fulfill.
The formula.
Rossi’s choice was as surprising as the announcement on Twitter that dropped Pedro’s “Wado” and Daniel Scioli from their candidacies. The Chief of Staff was the name that Alberto Fernández suggested to accompany Massa, although He quickly wanted to break away from his godfather: “Kirchnerism will be present in the formula, because I am a Kirchnerist,” he said.
That, in recent years, Rossi had had to swallow anger over Cristina’s decisions. In 2021, he decided to resign from the Ministry of Defense to be a candidate for senator for Santa Fe, but in an agreement with Governor Omar Perotti, the vice president anointed Marcelo Lewandowski, who would be the winner of the inmate. Evicted by the vice, Rossi found refuge in Alberto. He is now prepared to return to Kirchnerism.
Behind the scenes, the objective of keeping Peronism and La Cámpora compliant at the same time will be essential in the Massista strategy. At least for the duration of the campaign. It is the way to get competitive to October and fulfill your presidential dream.
