The day that the Fuerza y Corazón por México candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, opened her electoral campaign with a massive rally in Irapuato, one absence screamed from the stage, that of the PRI leader, Alito Moreno.
Two days later, in the State of Mexico, the same candidate was accompanied by the PRI leader and shouted at the militants: “Vote for the PRI, vote for the PRI and we are going to recover that PRIism that loves our country.”
An extraterrestrial with medical training would say that we are facing a rare split of political personality, but there is a reason for this, which forces Gálvez to a partisan chameleonism that satisfies the varied, if not contrary, electorate of the three formations that They support their alliance to win the presidency, on the one hand;
and on the other hand, to obtain the greatest number of votes possible based on the most competitive party in each territory.
In short, in Yucatán he embraces the PAN candidate for governor and in Toluca he embraces the tricolor.
When he is with the PRD he wears yellow.
And when he performs alone, pink is usually his color.
Complicated maneuvers that make it difficult for the collective imagination to discern the backbone of his political strategy.
Gálvez has made it clear time and again that she has gotten to where she is because the citizens wanted it that way, a million signatures that supported her candidacy for the coalition.
“I have not been a member of the PAN, I have not been a member of the PRI and I have not been a member of the PRD,” she repeated in Aguascalientes on Saturday, March 2.
“This thing about the parties is very complicated, if they are with me [they ask] what do the parties do with her?
If they are not there [they say that] they left her alone.
What I want is for the national presidents to do their job, the PAN to raise the votes of the PAN, the PRI, their job.
And when the three of them have to be with me, they will be.”
The Xóchitl phenomenon, in fact, brought excitement to thousands of people of diverse ideology who had in common their dislike for President López Obrador and everything that emanated from him, both the policies and his replacement, Claudia Sheinbaum.
Gálvez worked like a loose verse in those summer days last year, he even allowed himself the luxury of scolding or showing his disdain for some leaders, such as Alito Moreno, or distancing himself from the one who was closest to him, the PAN national leader, Marko Cortés. .
Burdened by a bad reputation and little citizen support for both them and their parties, the candidate wanted to play on her own, but she soon found it necessary to cling to the parties to get what makes a politician president, the votes.
When the real campaign arrives, with its rallies, electoral programs and precise strategies, that strange bed where so many sleep becomes even more viscous.
“The vehicles of representation are the parties, neither of the two candidates can afford to put conditions on those they champion, for different reasons, because they do not matter as much as the projects and support they have behind them,” explains the political analyst. Paula Sofía Vásquez Sánchez.
“In reality, both have uncomfortable traveling companions and it could be said that for Claudia Sheinbaum it is easier, because the basis of the Obadorismo is not very demanding, they do not care if they join the Verde or people from Encuentro Social with links to the Light of the World , it is a greater cynicism, she can shout that long live the Green even though from a discursive point of view it represents what she does not like,” adds Vásquez Sánchez.
In that sense, she thinks “a candidate like Xóchitl is more decent, who reproached Alito and Marko for the pacts they made in Coahuila [to share positions].
I think she maintains a less obedient relationship with them.”
For Francisco Abundis, from the consulting firm Parametria, Gálvez's change of colors depending on the scenario he steps on responds to a certain “lack of strategy” in his campaign.
"She can take more risks, her changes are more tactical than strategic, from the beginning they have been touching on different topics, today it is fear, then deception by the government, democracy, lost opportunities."
The analyst believes, however, that it is not a speech adjusted to each electorate, territory or place, but rather a lack of strategy.
Where Sheinbaum appears conservative, without needing to take the offensive because she is leading the contest, her opponent needs to look for the gaps, “in a kind of trial and error, to see what speech she hits,” says Abundis.
He also considers the difficulty of the opposition in imposing its discourse: “The ruling party already has its central agenda defined, the consolidation of the 4T, the famous second floor, social aid, all of that is well positioned.
And Xóchitl can sell that he will maintain or increase this aid, but it is easier for the electorate to believe what they have already seen than a promise of what is to come,” he explains.
“Xóchitl has it more complicated,” Vásquez Sánchez agrees, but for other reasons: “The citizens gave her support, despite the political parties, which would have been more comfortable with other candidates, for example the PAN with Santiago Taboada, male, white, heterosexual, upper middle class, to summarize.”
“But she knows that the bases exist and that she cannot waste the support of the 13% who are in favor of the PRI [in the polls],” reflects this analyst.
And there begins the campaign chameleonism.
But the difficulties of this coalition of parties that are needed to stop Morena's push seemed complicated from the moment of their union.
María Eugenia Valdés Vega, an expert in Political Processes, makes history to remember the animosity that the PRI and the PAN have had for each other since the 1930s, despite the fact that they reached agreements two six-year terms ago that ended with Peña Nieto's rise to power, and which have not been dissolved since then.
She also remembers that the PRD is a left-wing split from a PRI that became authoritarian and neoliberal.
“It is logical that all this disconcerts Xóchitl Gálvez and that his actions seem half schizophrenic at times.”
Because of this, she does not see that the starting position of the candidate, let's call her PAN on this occasion, can achieve great success in the presidential elections.
“Let's see, campaigns play a very important role, and see what happens with Congress…”
Adds Vega Valdés: “It will be difficult for Xóchitl and even more so with such poor leadership that surrounds her.
He carries a weight that he would have to free himself from, but he cannot.
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