And The Winner Is ...

So in the end the economy and the shooting of Isaías Carrasco did not persuade the Spanish electorate to boot out the PSOE regime of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The PSOE actually increased the number of deputies in Congress, as indeed did the opposition PP. The socialists now start the horse-trading with the minority parties, but they are assured of another coalition government and four more years in power.

The killing of the socialist councillor Carrasco, attributed to ETA, was, some said, likely to sway the voter towards the PP and towards its leader Mariano Rajoy who had made much of Zapatero being soft on terrorism. When the election was first announced and the potential threat of terrorism influencing the result was therefore raised, I argued that were there to be an act it might work in the PSOE's favour. If anything, this may indeed have happened. The electorate, this time round, has recognised the role of terrorists for what it is, a cynical means of attempting to undermine the democratic process, and the electorate has rejected this role, in the same way that it has rejected Rajoy's assertions regarding a lack of toughness on the part of Zapatero.

The failing economy gave the electorate a reason for booting out the PSOE, but it has stood by the party, which makes one wonder if the liberalism shown by the PSOE during its first four years is something that appeals to current-day Spain. Rajoy and the PP appear too much something of the past, of the Church and conservatism; the PSOE is more in tune with societal trends even if these bring it into conflict with the Church over issues such as divorce and same-sex marriages. The PP, despite spinning the result as being "satisfactory" in that they increased the number of deputies, has some soul-searching to do. Like its British Conservative counterpart, it needs to broaden its appeal and to find a leader who is more sympathetic than Rajoy.

That's the politics, but what of election night itself? The television presentation is, in some respects, similar to that for a UK election. Various graphics and computerised "swingometers", but two presenters who looked like they were presiding over the Eurovision Song Contest is not quite what one might expect of Dimbleby and Paxman. Then there were the abbreviations. They love abbreviations here. The election was therefore "E08" (elecciones 2008), the date was 9-M (9 March). The studio pundits were arranged in front of their own individual laptops, peering into them as though they were a bunch of people working in an estate-agent's office (what do estate agents find so vital that they have to look constantly at a PC screen?). The female moderator of the pundits had scrubbed up nicely. Looked a million dollars in fact. Perhaps she should have been presenting Eurovision.

There are none of the excruciating vote readings like in the UK, with the recording officer stumbling over the numbers and the nutter from the Monster Raving Loony Party wearing a Teletubbies outfit. Everything gets channelled through something called a data centre where another well-scrubbed female presenter reels off boring statistics and people mill in the background drinking beer. There are though gatherings of supporters at HQs, both in Madrid. But being Spain, the flag-waving supporters are all out in the street under huge posters of Zapatero and Rajoy with the inevitable DJ pounding out some music and a production cheerleader getting the masses to wave their flags more enthusiastically whenever the camera pans onto them.

Personally, it doesn't really bother me who has won. Most expats, I would guess, would have preferred a PP victory (if they had a view at all, which in most cases they would not have) and then only because of potential tax cuts. Impression is all important in politics, and it is impression that would have guided me had I had a vote. To this end, I am glad that Zapatero has won.


QUIZ
Yesterday - The Clash. Today's title - a line from a rather daft soul song.

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