Let’s think for a moment about yesterday’s debate as a boxing fight. Sergio Massa, the one with the current title, the one with the belt, was obliged to set his pace. He needed to hit from the start, to go out and win the fight from the beginning to convince the judges, in this case millions and millions of Argentinians, of his victory on the scorecards.
Javier Milei, the rising challenger eager to take the scepter from his rival, also had the task of exposing the candidate and minister. To corner him, to take him to a corner. He had arguments, but he didn’t get it.
The libertarian was left waiting in the center of the ring, without a fight plan. And it was there that Massa’s rain of blows began, which in this case took the form of a closed question: Yes or No. First, a few jabs to impose distance, then a few cross left straight to the chin. Milei was not recovering.
Because the Yes or no that Massa proposed as a plan of attack worked. The conditions of the conversation were set by the ruling party while the opponent, somewhat exposed, on the ropes and irritated after the first topic (his topic, the economy), only managed to leave his guard as high as possible and respond, as he could and quite damaged, the attacks that the Tigrense team designed.
Outside of what happened in the ring, social networks also set trends. The official’s team accompanied each instance of the debate with videos, with photos, in real time, and dominated the digital conversation.
A little groggy, dazed, Milei couldn’t even turn to a large part of his team of new collaborators in his corner: the PRO left him naked. None of his new political partners could be seen in the audience. Not even Mauricio Macri to support him. Not even Patricia Bullrich to support him on security matters, another of the libertarian’s weaknesses in the debate.
Unforced errors also existed: Milei insisted on vindicating Margaret Thatcher, a recognized archenemy of the Argentines. Nor could he explain, leaving himself too exposed, why the Central Bank of the Nation did not renew his internship several years ago, a fact with which Massa insisted in a plan to put in focus – and in doubt – the mental health of his opponent. .
In Milei’s favor there is one salient point to mention. From the start, from the beginning, she was clear that she had to hit Massa on the side of her credibility. In much of the debate, she succeeded: she repeated the word “liar” several times and even compared him to Pinocchio. Point for the libertarian.
What should Massa achieve through the debate? Convert the unconverted. Show, above all, the weaknesses of your opponent. Expose it. Show him not presidential. Regardless of the outcome next Sunday, his plan worked.
What would have been the ideal debate for Milei? Don’t alter the course of things too much. Move the focus towards the place that the agenda imposes, look for Massa’s weak flanks derived perhaps from a management that still cannot fully show conclusive achievements in economic matters. That said: he didn’t make it.
For some colleagues, there is no winning or losing in presidential debates. In this case, it does not seem like a completely correct hypothesis, especially when the vast majority of surveys show an extremely short gap between the voting intention of one and the other and, what is even more important, an interesting portion of undecided people.
On Sunday the moment of truth will come. But something became clear yesterday: of the two contenders, only one fulfilled his objectives. The jury’s cards, and the absolutely uniform opinion of all the media gave Tigre from Tigre the winner.
Political Consultant. President of the World Political Communication Summit
Source: Ambito
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