Since the times of Covid, Roberto Speranza manifests an extraordinary talent: he has the ability to make manifest the obscure and small truths of which the left is ashamed.
He takes on tasks that no one else would take on, if only for fear of losing face and the respect of the voters (things that our man has probably lost some time ago, which makes his work less burdensome). In exchange for this singular service offered to the cause, the former Minister of Health every time earns his place in Parliament, where he would otherwise have no chance of landing. Yesterday the political scientist from Potenza, via the Corriere della Serasurpassed himself, providing proof of two qualities that he had already hinted at in the past: he showed the same love for democracy exhibited during the pandemic and the same political flair demonstrated when he supported Kamala Harris’ victory in the American elections.
The stop to the gazebos and the crux of the alliance
Speranza began his conversation with the newspaper on via Solferino by burying the primariesthat is, the mechanism that gave birth to Democratic Party. «They are a political mistake and must be avoided. We are slipping into it without having fully thought about the meaning and the political and electoral consequences,” he said. Then, perhaps without realizing it, he certified the structural weakness of the progressive front: «The convergence between the Pd and the M5s is the essential premise for any reasoning on the alternative, but the numbers say that it is not enough. I recognize the precious work of Avs and I consider it urgent to build a central proposal capable of speaking to moderate voters.” As if to say: our friends Bonelli and Fratoianni may be nice, but we won’t go far with them (the allies will be happy).
Immediately afterwards, Speranza made it clear that there are serious problems on the left: «My great fear is not so much linked to the campaign for the primaries, which also promises to be very divisive (…). The two main candidates are the leaders of the two largest parties. They are authoritative figures and capable of mobilizing their respective electorates to the maximum, but we must ask ourselves what will happen among the voters of the force whose leader does not win the primaries.
There is an objective risk of reducing the level of mobilization in view of the elections. The 5 Star Movementbecause it has a less traditional electorate that could arrive at politics disoriented by one leadership expression of another party. But even in the Democratic Party there are sensitivities that could experience a leader who is not their own with discomfort. We would risk having very harsh and divisive primaries, with the result of reducing our ability to mobilize the electorate in view of the appointment that really matters.”
The invention of the symbolic candidate
Understood? They want to make a wide field, but this field is too narrow for each of the parties, because they don’t want others to be in charge.
The primaries could therefore turn out to be “a sensational own goal”. What to do then?
Here’s the brilliant idea: “It would be enough to make a symbolic choice, like a newly eighteen-year-old or an elderly partisan.” Truly amazing. It is probably the first time in Italian history (and perhaps not only) that a politician openly theorizes the use of a puppet candidate. Speranza, in essence, suggests first abolishing the primaries, then letting his voters vote for a straw name, a sticker that will clearly not govern but which can provide a decoy.
Let’s be clear: it’s not a very original idea. The left has been using this ploy to attract consensus for years, as demonstrated by the Soumahoro case and similar. But no one had ever come up with such a dramatic scam.
The conditioned reflex of political management
In practice, progressive Italians should lose the possibility of choosing the leader through primary consultation because they risk clearly seeing the fractures in the coalition. Then they would have to rush to vote for a fake name while waiting for the party ringleaders to agree among themselves to establish the roles and weights of each. If we are not in electoral lockdown, we are close. As you can see, he’s the usual Speranza: a man convinced that Italians are little boys to whom it is better not to give the slightest space for self-management or free choice. Better that the compatriots are guided by a wise helmsman, and if you can’t force them as done in the past, you have to try to deceive them.
Still as in the Covid era, however, it would be absurd to think that Speranza came up with all this alone, it would be equivalent to overestimating it. He simply becomes the spokesperson for requests that come from higher levels, but which no one else is willing to explain with equal shamelessness. It is quite clear that their Speranza is the emanation of the secretary of the Democratic Party. Elly Schlein she knows very well that the primaries are a swampy and very dangerous terrain: she herself became secretary by defeating Stefano Bonaccini (designated by the party) taking advantage of the collaboration of the 5 stars. Therefore he wants to be careful not to repeat the mistake, perhaps risking losing the leadership of the coalition in favor of Giuseppe Contewho for a few weeks has already been posing as a progressive Grand Leader.
For the umpteenth time, therefore, Speranza acts on behalf of third parties, becomes a willing lightning rod for the miseries of others. Which says nothing new about him but says a lot, almost everything, about the left.
