The campaign of Sergio Massa could be an object of study for political scientists in a few years. How does an Economy Minister stay competitive in the midst of a crisis? The answer that the candidate found from Union for the Homeland It is called “the plan of different countries.” “The majority of Argentines do not want the sale of organs, education for vouchers, or the elimination of labor rights. That’s why they choose us,” they say. TO the official strategy, the opposition gave it a simpler name: campaign of fear. And, at least so far, it works well for him.
For the strategy to work, it must limit unforced errors to a minimum. Each of the setbacks costs more being a candidate-minister. That is why, among other things, Cristina Kirchner does not appear in the campaign. If her vice president were present, the opposition could accuse her that she will seek to do the same as with Alberto Fernández, govern from the shadows. Hence Massa’s effort to demonstrate that this will not happen if he is elected president: “My government begins on December 10. I’m going to make the decisions. Like I did in Tigre or Anses. If I wasn’t sure about that, I wouldn’t even compete,” the minister repeats.
Absent.
The question is recurring. In each interview that Massa gives, one of the concerns has to do with Cristina’s role: “He is not going to have any public office. But he always did politics and will continue to do so.”, he answered in “A dos Voces”. And then he showed some boredom at her insistence: “Ask her what she’s going to do.”
Every time he is asked about whether or not he considers himself a Kirchnerist, the minister must juggle so as not to offend the base of his electorate and chooses to appear in a superior role: “I am from the Renewal Front. That question is a stupid one.. “People don’t ask,” she replied to journalist María Laura Santillán. He separates himself from CFK so as not to scare away the independent vote.
Faced with Cristina’s silence, one of her slopes supported Massa. “You always ask what Cristina is going to do, well, she is not going to be part of the Government,” said Juliana Di Tullio. on Radio Profile. And he added: “This is a presidential country, that’s how it has to be. Sergio is going to be the next President and he is the one who is going to make the decisions. He is the one who is going to govern.”
The only public role that the vice president has in Massa’s campaign is to speak to the K militancy. At the request of the Unión por la Patria candidate’s team, she has to Send messages to the hard core to keep them motivated. This is what he did in recent days: he recorded an audio to send to the Frente Patria Grande, the space of Juan Graboiswho months ago assured that “no way” accompanied the Minister of Economy.
“This is a special greeting, so that between now and November 19 we put all our personal effort into social militancy for the triumph of Unión por la Patria,” says the audio from the political leader of Kirchnerism. And she adds: “I am sure that they are going to do it because I am also absolutely convinced that they deeply love the country, the people and the nation, that all together they are the same.” The last public appearances of the former president had been in the general elections, at the time of voting in Río Gallegos, and at the close of this edition, when she was presiding over the Legislative Assembly of Deputies and Senators to proclaim the formulas that will compete in the runoff on the 19th. of November.
Without the vice president in the campaign, it is more difficult for the opposition to get the message across that Massa will be the continuity of Kirchnerism. “Where are Cristina and Alberto? Can anyone think that they retired from politics? They are hiding behind Massa,” Hernán Lombardi reproached them. It is the idea that is repeated from the other corner of the ring.
Bell.
In addition to showing himself as a man of management, the Minister of Economy is committed to moderation and poise. In contrast to Javier Milei, He seeks to be seen as a common, family man. “Vote for the normal guy,” is the slogan that makes the rounds on social media. Therefore, at every opportunity he has, Massa refers to his wife or his children. “I’m 51 years old, I would like ‘Toto’ and ‘Mili’ to give me grandchildren at some point so I can take care of them,” he says. about a possible withdrawal from public activity. The basic reading is to differentiate ourselves from the Kirchner couple and make it clear that they will not seek to remain in power forever.
On the other hand, he understood the idea of not talking about macroeconomics, but about the suffering of the people due to the crisis, but arguing about the adjustment proposed by La Libertad Avanza. “It is the difference between paying 60 pesos or 1100 for the train. It is the difference between paying 2,400 or 10,000 for the electricity bill. Today I met workers: they were happy because the State no longer steals between 100 to 500 thousand pesos of Profits,” he said in TN.
The Ecuadorian consultant Jaime Durán Barba believes that this is the reason why Massa grew so much between the PASO and the general ones: “He won because he understood that people freed themselves from ideologies. If you talk about inflation or insecurity, it is going to be somewhat complicated. But if you tell him: ‘with me you pay 50 pesos for the subway and with the other you pay a thousand’, he understands that immediately. You are not there to read the theory, you are there to be told 50 or a thousand. Ready. The impact is direct.”
In the candidate’s bunker they believe that he is in a moment of grace. And that he solves problems with political skill. The last one that was proposed to him was the gasoline shortage: he came out of it by granting an increase to the oil companies, but they believe that only the final result will remain in the collective unconscious: he solved the crisis.
In massism they consider that The informal coalition of La Libertad Avanza and Macrismo was short-term and that the effect will fade as the elections approach. “People are not cattle. Thinking that the voter is driven from one place to another freely is wrong. It was clear in the last elections,” the minister said about the opposition alliance. A renowned political consultant supports this hypothesis: “We have a report that gives us an unprecedented fact in Argentina: 40 percent of the voters changed their vote from the PASO to the general ones.”
Massa’s plan is to convince the disillusioned by showing himself as the least bad of the two candidates. “We must look for those who choose by discarding”, he tells his team. And he completes: “I have to convince that group that I am going to protect them from December 10.”
For this, it has the invaluable collaboration of the unions. Unionism allows you to carry out the campaign of fear without directly exposing yourself: the railway workers with the price of the ticket, the teachers against the voucher system and the CGT against the “removal of collective labor agreements” that La Libertad Avanza would allegedly carry out. The last to express his support was none other than Hugo Moyano: the leader of Camioneros is managing a meeting with Massa that for now has neither day nor time, it will depend on the agenda of the Unión por la Patria candidate. It will be an important photo that would appear days before the ballot.
The minister’s strategy is to announce positive measures that contrast with the economic reality, even when the ban is violated according to the regulations of the National Electoral Chamber. On Wednesday the 1st, together with Fernanda Raverta, they presented new credits for retirees. That motivated La Libertad Avanza’s lawyers to draft a lawsuit against the candidate.
What worries Massa is that the ruling party will surprise him with some black swan that he cannot control. That is why he protested when the Foreign Ministry made a statement condemning Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip and distanced himself from the matter. Alberto and his small table can only damage the campaign; Cristina Kirchner, with her very high negative image, cannot help convince voters who were left without a candidate. That is why the Minister of Economy decided to play the campaign alone.
