Real Madrid fans tend to cling to the mythical phrase pronounced by Juanito on the nights when he plays a comeback: “90 minutes at the Bernabéu are molto longo”. In the PSOE they also trust a comeback and that “90 minutes on RTVE are very long” -it will be the duration of the debate- and allow them to recover the ground they lost in the face-to-face with Alberto Núñez Feijóo a week ago. pick up spirits. Believe. But the appointment to three, although it is a key turning point in the final stretch of this campaign, is viewed with suspicion and concern in the formation. “We have more to lose than to win,” summarize party charges.
the scenario is different. A week ago, the PSOE came face to face with Feijóo with an ascending sensation, of growth, which was cut short abruptly and discouragement gave way. Now they're trying to get back on the optimistic bandwagon.. Want to continue trusting that it is possible to govern. And for that there can be no more failures. In Ferraz they consider that tonight's appointment is “another opportunity to contrast models and address large audiences”. From Sánchez's team they consider that the three-way debate “will allow us to contrast the model with the extreme right.”
This new “opportunity”, however, generates misgivings among many in the party. An idea is repeated in all corners: “A debate without the main opposition party”; “The problem is that the leader of the PP is not there”. And there is consensus that this conditions all actions and all results.. “It's a complex situation.. Without the PP it is difficult to know where that will come from.
The absence of Feijóo offers a compromised scenario for Sánchez. The PSOE candidate ordered the PP leader to celebrate up to seven face to face because, he understood, they were the only two candidates who could win. Now he is immersed in a date with two opponents who do not aspire to win, but fight for third place. There are those who already baptize, ironically, the meeting as “it seems like the losers' debate.”
In Ferraz, however, they do another analysis. They consider that the face-to-face meeting a week ago confirmed that “the lie is the model of the candidate Feijóo” and that “it is clear that it is a model that does not support two debates. That is why it will not appear on TVE ». In the socialist formation, they largely blamed the face-to-face format for Sánchez's stumble since, they understand, “it was very difficult to fight a lie when someone lies without blinking.”
“incomplete model”
The PP candidate rejected RTVE's proposal to participate in a four-person debate because he considered it an “incomplete model” and did not consider sending anyone to replace his candidate. The popular ones justified their refusal on the grounds that “the most honest thing” for the viewers is that Bildu, ERC and PNV were also present. What they wanted was to visualize Sánchez's dependence on the nationalists. That is, they wanted a seven-person debate with the leaders of each formation, a format that, however, was not proposed by any means of communication.. Public television did raise and have held a seven-person debate, but with the parliamentary spokespersons. An appointment in which the PP participated in the figure of Cuca Gamarra.
In Sánchez's team they believe that the staging allows them the strategy of presenting Santiago Abascal as the spokesman for the PP-Vox tandem, trying to visualize that his proposals are those that a future right-wing government coalition would undertake. “Feijóo will leave the representation to his de facto vice president, Santiago Abascal, and he will be the one who speaks for both of them,” they say from the socialist headquarters. “You are exposing yourself to the extreme right…”, they say in the party with a little more doubt.
Sánchez will face off with Abascal, but also with Yolanda Díaz, his current government partner and with whom he has already made it clear that he will form a tandem again if they find a loophole for it.. An also complex situation because, although both are rivals and compete for a common electorate, both also defend the government action carried out and are clear that, if arithmetic allows it, they will once again share a cabinet. Another of the keys will be in how to treat Díaz and how to measure the clash with her.
“We start from the conviction that many things unite us, in addition to the management of a Government that has made the country grow and generate employment after two world crises.. Obviously, we are different parties ”, they expose from Ferraz about this circumstance.
The debate will begin at 10:00 p.m., will last 90 minutes and is structured into three thematic blocks: economy, social policies and State and post-electoral pacts. There will also be a final turn of one minute for each participant (commonly called the golden minute).
The opening and closing shifts of each block and the positions of the candidates for the Presidency of the Government on the set have been established by lottery. The stopwatches to measure the times of the interventions will be managed by professional sports referees. The moderator will be Xabier Fortes.