The recent survey by Ipsos para La Vanguardia revealed that undecided voters are, on this occasion, clearly less than in the last elections, in 2019. Specifically, the institute believed that half. And today is the last day to vote by mail and a total of 2.6 million voters have already done so using this system, a historical record. Therefore, it would be necessary to relativize the effects of last night’s debate on RTVE between the three candidates for the presidency of the central government and what may happen in the two days left of the electoral campaign. We could easily deduce that all the fish have been sold and, if we pay attention to the prognoses of the polls, the only doubt is to know by what margin Alberto Núñez Feijóo will win.
Having said that, yesterday’s debate on RTVE was not positive for the centre-right bloc, because the tandem formed by Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz, in a performance planned as a duo, highlighted Santiago Abascal’s shortcomings more than once. The goal throughout the night of both was to put the leader of Vox and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the great absentee from the debate, in the same package. It was about trying to convince the electorate that PP and Vox are the same thing. At this point, there may be doubts whether they succeeded or not, but it is clear that their performance in the attack had only this meaning: to offer the Spaniards their model of progress in the face of the conservative who yesterday was represented only by Abascal. Feijóo was not there to be able to distance himself from the world of Vox and defend himself.
So, did the popular candidate do well not to attend the debate? Surely he avoided unnecessary risks when the polls smiled on him, but he conveyed an image of weakness, when he had triumphed in the face-to-face with Sánchez. His absence facilitated the systematic harassment of Pedro and Yolanda (so they talked to each other all night), in front of Abascal who made some mistakes, such as when he said that Bildu voted with the Government on the labor reform, when he did the opposite and aligned himself with Vox.
Two days before the close of the election, yesterday’s debate may not change the meaning of any vote, but it revives the left.
