Pablo Javier Blanco
08/21/2021 17:06
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 08/21/2021 5:10 PM
Some say it was a coincidence, others that one of the candidates planned it when the radio corridor arrived that one of his rivals in the PASO was campaigning a few blocks away.
The truth is that in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito there was an unexpected crossing between two rivals in the primaries that compete against María Eugenia Vidal: Adolfo Rubinstein and Ricardo López Murphy.
The former Minister of Health of Mauricio Macri, who heads the list of unruly radicals in the City (together with Mónica Marquina, Facundo Suárez Lastra and with the support of Luis "Beto" Brandoni) went to confront the Bulldog and reproached him for having "forgotten" to mention his candidacy in a recent campaign spot.
In Rubinstein's space, they point against what they consider to be a no-show on López Murphy's list.
It is because the former Minister of Economy launched a video on his networks in which he is shown as the only competitor against María Eugenia Vidal.
In these STEP we have the opportunity to give a strong message to the hegemonic and authoritarian regime of Kirchnerism.
September 12 will be decisive to change the destiny of our beloved Argentina.
Let's go for #UnCongresoFuerte.
pic.twitter.com/0g0Buxn2j0
- Ricardo López Murphy (@rlopezmurphy) August 19, 2021
"Em Juntos por el Cambio, López Murphy's list will compete with Vidal's. The only useful vote in these PASO is in the Juntos por el Cambio intern, which respects the spirit of the PASO and above all your freedom of choice. ", says the video that explains the importance of the Simultaneous and Compulsory Open Primaries.
In the commercial for networks, the economist is presented not only as the only competitor against Vidal's list, but also as the useful vote of the election.
That upset the fraction of the Buenos Aires UCR that supports Rubinstein, who today celebrated the gesture of going to meet López Murphy and give him a handshake, half a block from Acoyte and Rivadavia.
The message that upset the wayward radicals.
The greeting between competitors - an unusual postcard in campaigns - surprised those who came to greet them both.
"Good luck in the debate," said one of the neighbors who hopes to see them both face to face on television with María Eugenia Vidal.
"Thank you", answered in unison López Murphy and Rubinstein, who know that it is most likely that this meeting will not happen.
The possibility of a candidate debate prior to the general elections does not, for the moment, enter the strategy outlined by the campaign team led by the head of the Buenos Aires government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, both in the city and in the province.
And just as Diego Santilli, the first candidate for deputy for Juntos, has already ruled out the possibility of debating with Facundo Manes, candidate of the UCR, it is expected that Vidal will do the same with both López Murphy and Rubinstein.
López Murphy's strategy
López Murphy is greeted by a soldier while walking down the street.
As it is, López Murphy's campaign will continue to address two issues: on the one hand, touring the city's neighborhoods and, on the other, having a strong presence in the media.
"Ricardo does not have a photo every day with Larreta, Macri or Santilli, he is walking the street alone," they point out in Republicanos Unidos.
The poll numbers excite the economist's team.
They see a gradual and sustained growth in the surveys and also an expansion of the space that is being built.
Moreover, they point out that although it began its journey in a quest to capitalize on Patricia Bullrich's votes, today, due to various factors, it consolidated the hard vote, began to expand to a broader sector.
"The campaign became very polarized and he is occupying a place of strong anti-Kirchnerism in the face of a Vidal who seems stagnant, soulless," they point out.
In addition, last week they celebrated the fact that Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner raised López Murphy to the national debate by mentioning him in a ceremony with Alberto Fernández in Avellaneda.
Is that for a few days, Kirchnerism has focused its criticism of the opposition in 2001, when the Bulldog occupied the hot seat of the Ministry of Economy.
The former president alluded to López Murphy without naming him.
He said he had proposed to tariff public education in 2001 and was "kicked out by the Purple Strip."
The economist's response was not long in coming.
Doctor, you never cease to amaze me.
And he doesn't stop lying either.
That is your trademark.
I proposed lowering political spending, having an efficient State and freeing up the forces of the private sector.
Look like Australia and Canada.
And you and Nestor took us to Venezuela.
pic.twitter.com/6RJ74Y73li
- Ricardo López Murphy (@rlopezmurphy) August 17, 2021
"Doctor, you never stop surprising me. And you don't stop lying either. That is your trademark. I proposed to lower political spending, have an efficient State and free up the forces of the private sector. We look like Australia and Canada. And you and Nestor they took us to Venezuela, "he said.
Rubinstein's "we were always"
For their part, Rubinstein and the unruly radicals continue to bet on a low cost campaign with tours of neighborhoods and new TV advertisements.
Starting this Monday, they will begin to broadcast two new spots that focus on speeches by Alberto Fernández, about classes, and Cristina Kirchner, about Let's change.
One begins with a phrase from the president talking about the suspension of classes in quarantine.
"
Guys, keep sending me pictures on Twitter. It's the only solution I have,
" the President is heard saying.
Rubinstein then tells the camera: "Closing schools was not the only solution they had. I want to go to Congress to put an end to lies and hypocrisy."
The other with an effusive speech by Cristina Kirchner.
"I wonder. Those who are from Cambiemos. Why are they? Are there reasons?"
And Rubinstein responds: "Because we want to live in democracy. Without authoritarianism. We are going to move the country forward. We are going to change Argentina. We are many and we are going to be more," he says with images of the Yes to Macri marches in the background.
On the domestic front, they will insist on a message that they have been repeating since the former Minister of Health was launched: that he was always there during the pandemic.
"We were and we are," they
repeat, in a clear message to Vidal.
In the marches for the reopening of schools, proposing to governments and legislators to plan a gradual reopening, everywhere, we asked that schools be opened.
We were and we are. # AdelanteCiudad pic.twitter.com/AIa3w8nfKm
- Forward City (@AdelanteCiudad) August 20, 2021
This week, they will insist on tours of the neighborhoods, inviting neighbors to chat with Rubinstein, Marquina and Brandoni.
And they will also make a formal request for a debate between the candidates, according to Clarín, through Ricardo Gil Lavedra, the representative of the list, who will send a formal request to Vidal and López Murphy.
"The debate is not a mere spectacle, but a right of citizens to know the ideas and proposals of the candidates before the electoral contest," says Gil Lavedra's letter.
In addition, the radicals hope to add support from more leaders of the national UCR to Rubinstein's nomination, such as that already expressed by Ernesto Sanz and Gerardo Morales, among others.
Look also
María Eugenia Vidal: "I have no doubts that Cristina is the one who governs"
They denounce the destruction of 100 posters of Facundo Manes and ask that a PRO mayor deliver security camera videos
