It is absurd to keep reading articles about how bad it is. Even those who are going to vote for it on 29 November know it. And so what? The greatness of democracy is not in choosing a president among 5 young and handsome candidates with no experience (as happened to us in 2019). The wonderful thing is being able to get rid of the unfortunate individual who insists on turning the proud children of the Transition into the irate grandchildren of the Civil War. That is what they cannot do in Cuba, nor in North Korea, nor in...
But at this point in the game - and even assuming the polls are accurate - it is reasonable to raise a couple of doubts. The first: Can Spain cultivate a climate of concord again? Is there a way back from the degeneration we are suffering? Can one return to being a missionary after having engaged in sadomasochism? And in the event that this reversal to "normality" is possible, can it happen with a socialist party that has been transitioning from the Tinell pact in 2003 to the wall of 2023? Difficult.
When the PSOE chose the man of jewels - foolish and wicked in equal measure - I went to lunch with a good friend, Guerra's right-hand man - pure apparatus - to ask him where such a signing came from. "It is undoubtedly a risky bet - he confessed to me - the PSOE in León was 12 points ahead of the PP and he comes to the general secretariat in Madrid leaving it 11 points behind." And then? "Well, there came a moment when Guerra said that before a pious Vatican-type (you know who he was referring to)... anyone." The result, you already know.
I had the opportunity to meet the current general secretary in 2014, at a lunch at a good friend's house. I only made one comment, I believe pertinent in light of where his predecessor had left the country: We do a magazine called Consejeros because legal entities - it doesn't matter whether it's Coca Cola or the PSOE - are a fiction. It is the councillors who decide whether to do something or not, and that is why the members of the board of directors are actually administrators, not councillors. And their first and most important task is to choose who should manage it. So if the chosen one loses the oremus at any given moment, their services are appreciated and they look for another. What cannot happen is for the entire board to follow them to the precipice... and jump, with the country behind. "Because, honestly, as a gang, Pablo and Irene's is much more fun."
He made no comment, but his gaze was transparent. "This one isn't even good enough to bring the coffees." A dozen years later, the character has a Council of Ministers and a socialist party where almost everyone is vying to bring the coffee to the "fucking boss." And that is indeed a problem. Because from that PSOE that was already shouting "not with Rivera!, not with Rivera!" (meaning, better with Pablo?) the Leguinas, Redondos, etc... have left - up to 27,000 members have left the party with him at the helm - always cheered on by the press from the other side of the wall. Mistake. Unfortunately, this achieves a radically opposite effect to the desired one, an even more sectarian party willing to swallow anything. The most reasonable way to be able to count on the PSOE again is precisely the opposite, to look for 150,000 brave individuals willing to join - for only 6 euros a month - to prevent, as an illustrious socialist - Paco Vázquez - explains, "having to choose today between the PSOE and Spain."