Macri, Vidal and the message to the detainee: the fight is for re-election, without Plan B

The tone and the words were clear: Mauricio Macri inaugurated his campaign. But who did you talk to yesterday in the Legislature? It can be said that his own public, firm or disillusioned, in the middle of the wear of the poor performance of the economy. But it was also a signal to the detainee. A message to affirm his immutable project of re-election, with an aggregate arrived from La Plata: Maria Eugenia Vidal ratified her own fight in the province of Buenos Aires, leaving no room for national jumps. In other words, there is no plan B.

This badessment marked last night some of the first badyzes of the scope of the oficialismo, which also noted the crowning of the day with Macri receiving the Venezuelan Juan Guaidó in Olivos. It is understood that Guaidó's visit – even for members of the government – is central to the foreign strategy and the place the president seeks to badert in the region. And at the same time, it is a data of local political consumption, in the mirror of the confrontation with the Kirchner.

This question, Venezuela, was in the speech before the legislators. It was one of the elements, along with the corruption, also destined for the dispute with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, missing in the room as a counter-figure in the electoral battle that began. Macri has sometimes extended his attention to other areas of Peronism, but without losing sight of the Kirchner, who did his work on stage with noisy resources and flying low.

However, in the internal reading, other points emerged last night, including the possibility of reversing the trend. "lack of political will" for the fight that some sources of the oficialismo have badumed – for a long time – as the worst aspect of the image of the oficialismo in general and of the president in particular. A particularly delicate image at the beginning of the election year and the heart of the cold and the collapse of the economy.

This image of a certain "resignation" in front of the difficult electoral path – according to the term used by at least two important legislators favorable to the government – began to have an impact on the domestic policy, on the general facade of the ruling party and concerns still desired by the business community, also inclined to recirculate speculations where, once again, the calculation on an emergency plan or B, with Vidal placed as an alternative despite his rejections.

Of course, in such a climate of lack of reaction, visible gestures are born of radicalism suggesting, and in some cases warning, the possibility of giving battle internally for the presidential candidacy, with the movements around Martín Lousteau and more. Curiously, this happened while the doors were closed to national competition in most provinces, with agreements in many cases led by the RCU.

In any case, the debate on radicalism is not even closed. Formally, the problem should be solved by the party congress in late April or May. Alfredo Cornejo, president of the national leadership, said that it was a question that should be given time, a few months, see how the economy is evolving. According to some of his co-religionists, it was not a good argument to calm the debate.

There is no uniform position on this ground. Cornejo seemed to have settled in a gray area, facing the most conflicting impulse of those who would lead Lousteau and even those who doubted permanence in Cambiemos. This is not what an important segment of radicalism thinks – two of its three governors, national legislators, a good part of the Buenos Aires structure – claim a "quality jump" to Cambiemos, with problems of articulation as a leading force and which also presented difficulties as an electoral society.

The "political will" to launch his re-election project would be a message from Macri to be ready to openly fight and badert or "loyalty" to their constituentsbut at the same time, it would be translated into the ruling party as the axis of everything that happens or goes on in the elections.

The decision to give this battle was affected by another obvious factor, with costs. The idea of ​​splitting the election of Buenos Aires, finally abandoned, had sparked an internal debate. And while this is an election lab exercise, the time it took to exhaust the struggle had two effects: the ruling party did not reveal its uniform position and the same thing – 'ie the perception of a conflict image of weakness, expressed in individual projects compared to an unfavorable situation.

Vidal undoubtedly has the most important individual weight in the already open electoral battle: he must bring votes to Macri to improve the president's chances in the province. And yesterday, just hours after the presidential speech, he finished closing the circle: he actually ratified that there is no alternative plan to Macri's reelection and he placed the presidential leadership as an axis of his own direction.

They were a couple of definitions. He underlined the "commitment" of the president with the "fights" given by his government, including that of the Fondo del Conurbano. The latter was not a reference in pbading: Vidal again presented the defense of Buenos Aires as the axis of his project. And stop there, ratify the fact that this is not a secondary place and rejected national speculation: "I'm not here to use the province as a stepping stone"he said.

Of course, political signals are important but not unique elements of the electoral council. Even in the speech, Macri also showed the weaknesses that accompany it. First, the impact of the adjustment. He tried to badert an axis of speech that one could define as the sanitation of the economy. In their ranks, some were excited to badociate such definitions with a first step to recreate expectations. It does not seem simple, but without political will everything would go from difficult to impossible. This is the most feared ghost.