The first reason is the more than 600,000 television viewers who watched a three-hour debate, which, according to the candidates’ staffs, establishes a well-founded optimism that enough people will come to the polls.
The second reason is that while there were rebuttals and personal attacks and high tones, the candidate presidents of PASOK showed that the next day is on their minds, which is why they did not take things to extremes with behaviors or statements. The contrast with what is happening in SYRIZA is both obvious and damning for Koumoundourou.
The third reason is that there is an assessment in PASOK that whoever becomes president, the realistic political goal of PASOK becoming the second political force in the country, at a distance from the third, is not only possible, but can be achieved by the end of time.
It is a worldwide political and communicative achievement to conclude that from the pre-election debate, no candidate won an election.
In PASOK, however, they believe that this telephone battle will have a significant impact on the voters.
The candidates did avoid the big mistake that would have condemned them in the eyes of the voters, but it is generally accepted that they risked a crumple while avoiding the wooden word.
And while everyone was saying afterwards that it’s hard to talk about winners and losers, behind the scenes the comments came and went.
Nikos Androulakis was attacked by everyone and played defense. In the two polls that followed the debate (Prorata and Metron Analysis) he had a good image, but also showed weak points. He necessarily defended the course of the party under his leadership and the small gains, promising more, but without explaining what he himself can change. The talk about him is that he will definitely be in the second round, but he will hardly be the favorite there.
Haris Doukas was the one who should not have been happy with his performance. The post the next day about the attacks he receives from the Androulakis staff was taken as a distraction. He made basic mistakes (national and banking issues), lost his temper several times, was unclear as many times.
Above all, however, he failed to convince public opinion that he can hold two watermelons (mayor of Athens and PASOK presidency) in the same armpit, while he failed to hide how friendly his positions are to SYRIZA. His remark that the residents of Exarchia wake up and see sheets of metal (s.s.: it’s a construction site and they put fencing on construction sites for safety reasons!) stuck in the minds of many.
Pavlos Geroulanos was the one who managed not to get involved in fights. They credit him with being authentic and clear in what he said and knowing the issues. However, they accuse him of being sluggish, he did not show “leadership” which – according to the opinion polls – Nikos Androulakis and Anna Diamantopoulou showed. He was also credited with the remark to Anna Diamantopoulou “you’ve been away for so many years, how do you ask to inspire?”, in the sense that it was one of the few moments when the seasoned Diamantopoulou appeared to squirm while airing a centre-left profile, cautiously friendly to SYRIZA and visibly hostile to the N.D. On the plus side, he appeared as a social democrat in the field of economy and small and medium entrepreneurship.
Anna Diamantopoulou was credited with her attempt to appear unifying, however, she failed to adequately respond to the attacks of her fellow candidates who tried to portray her as “pro-government”. However, she sent a clear “anti-SYRIZA” message and tried to appear more as a candidate for prime minister.
Nadia Giannakopoulou appeared very aggressively, unilaterally towards the president of PASOK. She tried hard to convince that she was the one who led the process of electing a new president, while her aggressiveness irritated the normally cool Nikos Androulakis.
Michalis Katrinis tried to approach the traditional voter of PASOK, and he probably succeeded. He lost points, however, when he protested to the supposedly excellent host-presenters for asking him who he intended to support in the second round.
They made a mark
Whether the candidates succeeded in attracting a new audience in favor of their candidacy or in favor of PASOK as a whole is doubtful. But they certainly didn’t drive away their fans.
The public drew conclusions about PASOK and the next day and about each of the candidates individually.
Anna Diamantopoulou, for example, did not hide that her aim is to turn the steering wheel towards the center-right, as Doukas, Katrinis (more) and Geroulanos (less) showed that they want PASOK firmly and strictly to the center-left.
However, it seemed that at this stage, whoever wins, it will be very difficult to extend a hand of friendship to SYRIZA, whether its president in December is Stefanos Kasselakis or Sokratis Famellos or Pavlos Polakis or someone else. It also appeared that PASOK wants to maintain for itself the central position in the area that extends to the left of the ND, which means that it will be very difficult to enter into a dialogue in the future with a new party under Alexis Tsipras.
#PASOK #Battle
