“Criticism from the left increases consensus” –

The strong criticism that General Roberto Vannacci is receiving from his political opponents, with the resulting media overexposure, has the effect of strengthening his candidacy, with a possible increase in the consensus that Vannacci himself may receive. But this does not mean that the base of the League, which finds him on the list, converges on his name. This is what emerges, in summary, from the opinions collected by AdnKronos, which heard from some pollsters and spin doctors, all in agreement on the fact that the visibility the general is having “is certainly a booster of consensus for him”. «Certainly the attacks on Vannacci, beyond the contents, allow the general to have completely free visibility which helps», the opinion of pollster Renato Mannheimer (Eumetra), recalling how «this helps all the more in an electoral campaign like that for the European elections, which is also challenging due to the size of the electoral constituencies”. “From here to say that this notoriety” linked to the attacks “helps and is transformed into you is not possible to hypothesize now.” «Of course Vannacci doesn’t run the risk that many candidates have of remaining anonymous, but also to be able to say whether his contribution will be decisive in making the League grow, so if Salvini’s choice was a winner, we should have other data which I don’t have at the moment, it would require work that I haven’t done yet.”

The same position is expressed by Fabrizio Masia, spin doctor and pollster for EMG Different who believes that the publicity he is receiving even with the attacks he has received «allows Vannacci to have greater visibility, perhaps broadening the consensus even towards those who knew him relatively». «It is certainly strengthened – he assures – certainly not weakened, because visibility is given to positions that have a certain consensus. Then it will certainly have to be seen whether these positions can be shared within the traditional Northern League electorate, so the result of this effect will have to be evaluated, for Vannacci it is certainly a booster of consensus”, concludes Masia.

For Maurizio Pessato, vice-president of the polling company SWG, “Vannacci himself knows that visibility is needed and I think he is also forcing the issues put forward, choosing a radical line, to converge with his ideas.” The pollster assures that someone like Vannacci «is looking for a niche consensus, of a part of public opinion. This is why he pays little attention to the attacks he receives, which will certainly not take away the consensus of that ‘sector’ target.” «He loads the tone, because he is speaking to part of the Italians», explains Pessato. “Rather – he concludes – those who attack him should aim to give an explanation to that part of the electorate not already aligned with him of the reasons why he is criticisable, going beyond slogans and easy jokes”.