In the electoral campaign of the 23rd, different approaches to the economy have emerged and, even in the field of those who agree that the situation is positive, also different ways of presenting to the voters their own balance sheet of the management.
The PP candidate, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is currently being the most inconsistent. He came to the presidency of his party thinking that the economy, that is to say its poor state and the imminent and sure recession that was announced, would be the Stalingrad of Pedro Sánchez, the main lever to attack Moncloa. Halfway through, as the prospects improved, he changed horses. The disaster was not coming and it seemed that he would choose to forget about the affair. But it would have been very strange to endure the long pre-campaign and the final campaign without talking about the economy, which is so important to everyone. Moreover, there was a danger that the message would end up being reduced to just lowering taxes. This is probably why Feijóo has been rehearsing timid forays into this area which, in general, have turned out badly for their goals.
In the end, he forgot about his idea of ??reforming the pensions, which went from being the promise of the Normandy landings to the threat of defeat of the invincible Navy. The draft of the bet, millions of votes of pensioners at stake, has injected equine doses of caution into the thinking minds of the PP.
It was not the only one forgotten. He has also backed down on the proposal to repeal the labor counter-reform of the second vice-president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz. One of the star measures of the current socialist government. The robust current state of the labor market and the desire to avoid further upheavals of the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi – also of the large companies of the overvalued Ibex – plus the pact with Brussels, which also includes pensions, have led the popular to publicly assure that they will not put it in question.
But it’s also not dramatic for the popular. Among the bulk of his present and potential social support, the vote does not depend on the reaction to any special economic measure, but on the political rejection generated by Sánchez and his partners. This is the key for him, and he only goes into the economy when he thinks it is safe territory. Its audience is the closest to affluent society. Another thing is that his slips end up disintegrating the painting. It is already known that Feijóo is not particularly gifted for debates, let alone economic ones.
But talking about the economy has not generated complete harmony among the members of the coalition government either. Sánchez and Díaz, without reaching notable contradictions, except in specific cases, such as the moratorium on housing evictions, have sounded different tunes that note that they address slightly different social sectors.
First, the Prime Minister. Sánchez has chosen to brag bluntly about what he has done, to make a clearly optimistic assessment of his management during the legislature that is now ending. He has tried to avoid controversial issues during the campaign, and has avoided new proposals that could generate rejection among close or more dubious voters or discourage those who considered the possibility of voting for him. It is about taking advantage of the current economic stability without talking much about taxes, a black beast for the middle classes, both those who pay and those who fear having to do so in the future. For this it is better to refrain from promises of additional spending, much less extravagant in this campaign than in the previous ones led by the socialist leader.
The voter to whom it is addressed is not walking around left, but it is also not very financially burdened and appreciates that the current situation is maintained for as long as possible without major shocks. The measures to contain the energy bill, together with the palliatives to the price increases in consumer products, in addition to the solidity of the labor market keep him in a mental state of relative tranquility. For socialists, the key is which percentage of these middle classes fits this profile and which feels that it pays more taxes than it considers reasonable and embraces the popular ideology of discounts right and wrong.
Díaz, the leader of Sumar, on the other hand, has chosen to brag less about her balance sheet and talk more about what she thinks remains to be done. She has not hesitated to put on the table new measures linked to the world of work, such as the reduction of working hours and taxes, which are higher and for longer. His reasoning is based on considering that despite the positive measures approved by the Government of which he has been a part, the crisis has left scars and has taken its toll on large sectors of the population.
It assumes that for these voters Sánchez’s message of satisfaction can fuel a feeling of rejection derived from the lack of identification with their own situation, with the reality of their lives. The overwhelming housing price, end-of-month anxiety and declining consumption. And that this coagulates in the form of votes towards the harder right-wing sectors, such as Vox, of Santiago Abascal, who ensure to break or turn the current state of affairs upside down. The social sector to which Díaz is addressing seems to be the one experiencing the most conflicts and expects more social measures from the new government that will emerge from the July 23 elections. It does not seem enough, or has barely noticed, the measures of which Sánchez is so proud.
In the definition that each of the candidates makes of their social sector of reference in this campaign, the expectations of the parliamentary vote they aspire to are delimited.
