A black plate with the red number of August inflation: 12.4 and a lapidary message in capital letters. “A SHAME. It’s not just inflation, it’s the number that summarizes the tragedy that they leave us Massa and Kirchnerism”. Patricia Bullrich He does not spare epithets to target the Minister of Economy. He accuses him of leading Argentina to hyperinflation and associates him with Kirchnerism.
The presidential candidate of Unión por la Patria also despises to his rival, although he recognizes that there are leaders who today work for her who “are valuable”. In private, she mercilessly criticizes Bullrich’s work as Minister of Security. “Even Aníbal (Fernández) was a better minister”, Massa was heard saying in recent days.
However, and although he does not lack desire, Massa avoids disqualifying Bullrich in public. The behavior is partly explained by the unwritten command to argue only with who has the most votes. As the result of the PASO and all the market surveys show, that place is occupied by Javier Milei.
There are also particular reasons that force Massa to turn the other cheek with an opponent who does not hesitate to call him “little advantage“: he runoff. In the UxP campaign command They are already thinking about the second round. They believe that there is a universe of voters who They never voted for Peronism and that on October 22 they will elect Bullrich who would be willing to anoint Massa if the alternative is Milei.
They refer to conservative and center-right voters concerned about the advance of the libertarian economist and the uncertainty that encompasses an unprecedented political experiment in Argentina. The Minister of Economy, who recalled throughout the campaign Bullrich’s past in Montoneros and the cut to retirees in the Alliance government, continues to speak of a government of national unity, as he recalled this Saturday when inaugurating an underpass in Malvinas Argentinas. Her ecumenism has limits: she would not add Macri’s former minister to her government, but she would add leaders who work with her today.
Massa avoids also offend Milei, because he is hunting a sector of his voters. Particularly those who in 2019 voted for the Frente de Todos and in August preferred La Libertad Avanza.
Some of the collaborators that the minister listens to most during the campaign maintain that the debates will also serve to speak to those voters: 14%, according to a prominent massista. Others highlight that the main adversary of Peronism is the challenge of recovering their own votes.
A key member of the campaign team maintains that public discussion and the elections will become “a plebiscite” around the figure of Milei. He argues that polarization with the libertarian leader will empower the Minister of Economy. “There was a wave in favor of Mileiwhich should not be underestimated, but There will also be a wave against“, predicts a leader of the Frente Renovador.
10 days ago in a roast in San Telmo, the UxP leadership decided to advance the hybrid strategy that will include greater territorial presence and inputs for digital warfare, the most fertile ground for the candidate with the most votes in the campaign. The mayor of San Fernando Juan Andreotti was there, who since then assumed direction of the candidate’s social media communication.
The result is already seen in the stories from Massa’s official Instagram account in which the minister looks more relaxed and shows part of the behind-the-scenes of the campaign and management. Unlike Milei, who takes advantage on TikTok, the focus will be on IG and YouTube.
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In the brand new Massista team, however, they will also reinforce their presence with proposals also on the Chinese social network, very far from the irony of Juan Manzur, who minimized the role of new technologies. “They want to beat Peronism with TikTok“, the Tucumán governor had said. Massa’s team is clear that there are towns where information only arrives through 4G and they learned the lesson he left Horacio Rodríguez Larreta on August 13. “He underestimated the youngwho want to hear proposals,” they say about the publications in which the head of Government prepared sandwiches.
Andreotti and part of his team met in Brazil with Edinho SilvaLula’s campaign manager, who already sent Argentina to an advance of 4 of his collaborators to participate in the campaign. A structure of almost 20 leaders who They worked on Lula’s 2022 and Fernando Haddad’s campaigns In 2018 they will be installed in the country permanently. The Catalan consultant Antoni Gutiérrez Rubí continues to be in charge of the strategic guidelines of the campaign.
The candidate minister premiere on Saturday a spot in which the most important detail is seen at the end, when reading only the last name Massa, the electoral brand with which Peronism seeks to retain power. The candidate minister appeals to maintain prominence based on advertisements and measures to alleviate the impact inflation that will not stop. The next ones will be for self-employed people.
Close to Massa they maintain that with the claim of the candidate and the country’s human capital – “we have what and who“, says the spot – they are looking for question and represent to an electorate that wants a reasonable change instead of a failed change, which JxC would represent, and an impossible and dangerous change, which Milei would embody.
