Comment from Stuart
Time: March 3, 2008, 3:52 pm

Rojoy should find himself a new wife… or move to Holland.

Comment from Graeme
Time: March 3, 2008, 4:45 pm

I don’t think Holland has done anything to deserve Rajoy.

Comment from Jon Hundt
Time: March 3, 2008, 4:58 pm

My own answers would agree with both of them half the time.

I’m not worried about a guy praying. It might even be a good habit. If you changed the word to ‘meditation’ a lot of folks would say “great idea!”

I’m not worried about a guy letting his wife help select his clothes; my wife has much better sense about these things than I do.

How long you sleep at night - well, who can control that? We are what we are. I would wonder about a person who stays in bed awake and doing nothing for too long…

But - 2 showers a day? I guess one of these guys has a little too much time on his hands… or has some kind of complex about his body being ‘dirty’… sounds a bit psycho to me. Or maybe he has a very strenuous job and works up a sweat during the day…

BUT - before you all yell at me - I don’t know who either of these guys are, and I have ABSOLUTELY NO OPINION about their politics.

I sure like the idea of a two-week presidential campaign.

And I’m sure Holland would welcome either of these gentlemen. We already have people here who sleep 8 hours a day… or more… or less. And people who take no showers… or two… or three.

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: March 3, 2008, 5:32 pm

ZP seems to have more vigor and energy. He also seems more contemporary so I would go with him. Ben, are you saying that American elections run too long?

Comment from Pepino
Time: March 3, 2008, 6:00 pm

After seeing a bit of the “head to head” debate the two leaders did last week, I felt it was obvious that Zapatero had come out on top, but you´d never believe it on reading the Spanish papers the next day. I know the newspaper ABC is ridiculously pro-PP, and El Mundo seems to promote them more from what I´ve seen too, but even the free papers on the Metro were supporting Rajoy.

I like Zapatero. I just wish he´d stop doing that silly thing with his finger over his eyebrow. (Basically, the guy has “V” shaped eyebrows so he´s got celeb supporters posing with an imaginary V with their fingers over their eyebrows. Bit tacky if you ask me! )

Mind you, what would Gordon Brown or even George Bush´s finger signals be??? I can think of one or two good ones! jeje

Comment from Ben
Time: March 3, 2008, 6:13 pm

@Jon you are right, 2 showers a day is a bit odd, unless he has got some sort of sport thing going on as well…

@VS, no, I think 2 years is an entirely sensible amount of time for people to make up their mind about who they want to rule their country next!

Comment from Ben
Time: March 3, 2008, 6:14 pm

@Pepino - I feel I have to watch part 2 of the big debate tonight, though doubt I’ll be able to bear more than 10 minutes of The Beard…

Comment from dean hunt
Time: March 3, 2008, 6:26 pm

It has to be ZP. Based purely on the fact that he looks like a Goth Mr Bean

Comment from ese
Time: March 3, 2008, 6:39 pm

Espero que el domingo gane Rajoy. Es el único que está en contra del canon digital.

Comment from Parubin
Time: March 3, 2008, 6:41 pm

@ Ben :
Two showers a day seem perfectly normal to me considering the man’s vigorous and self proclaimed sexual activity during campaing.

@ Pepino :
The reversed ‘V’ finger sign over his eyebrow started because that is the conventional name give to ZP in the sign language for the deaf or hard of hearing.
In the meetings and speeches of politicians in Spain, there is always an interpreter for the deaf near the tribune so the message could reach them.

Pretty soon it was noticeable to mostly everyone (not only deafs) that the sign to refer to the President was the reversed ‘V’ sign over his eyebrow (in relation to the shape of his eyebrow) which was kind of funny, or at least so it seemed to PSOE’s marketing advisers who turned that sign into a personal visual motto for the campaing.

Here’s the link to of how this story began as well as a short video in it with some celeb and anonymous supporters.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/02/08/espana/1202471162.html

How many of the celeb supporters can you spot in the video??

Comment from ese
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:02 pm

Pepino, ¿por qué te molesta tanto que el ABC sea ridículamente pro-PP? Si no te gusta, no lo leas, y ya está. El País Y Público son pro-PSOE y no pasa nada. Cada periódico tiene se línea editorial, y hay que respetarlo. Si no te gusta, no lo compres.

Comment from MrsRajoy
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:16 pm

But I’ve heard that Rajoy is gay. So maybe that explains why he’s not having any sex with his wife before the election.

Comment from ese
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:24 pm

No me creo que Zapatero tenga sexo todos los días, después de tener 2 mítines diarios. Con lo cansado que debe de llegar a casa. Además, me parece frívolo que estemos discutiendo de esto. A mí me interesa más hablar de lo que ha hecho mal y lo que ha hecho bien Zapatero. A mí no me va a dar de comer, que Zapatero tenga o no tenga relaciones sexuales con su mujer. A mí me interesa más que haga algo para solucionar el problema de la vivienda, como liberalizar el suelo, o que suprima el canon digital.

Comment from Pepino
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:48 pm

@Parubin - Well I never knew that. Thanks for filling me in! I happily take the word “tacky” back

@ese - I don’t buy the ABC. Unfortunately, I passed through a few airports recently and it’s often the only one they have to give away on boarding, so I made the mistake of picking it up a couple of times. I’ve no real problem with newspapers having political alliances as long as it’s not sycophantic, but ABC really take it to the max. They’re one step away from being a “Hola” magazine for the PP….

“And here we see the handsome International Statesman and former Prime Minister José María Aznar relaxing by his luxurious pool. Hard to believe that youthful José, with his full head of hair, is actually 55 years old, as we see him sipping a cold San Miguel and pondering the world’s economic problems while casually brushing his toes in the water”.

OK, I’m being silly, but the point is true. There is usually something on the cover pandering to the PP while anything ZP has done is hidden away and covered in scorn on the deep inside pages.

I find the Catalunyan papers slightly more balanced (or at least with only a slight favoring toward ZP) while still covering the “news”.

But yes, essentially you’re right. No me gusta el ABC y no lo leeré más.

Comment from Kes
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:55 pm

What I can’t get used to about living in Spain is that even after the first head to head around 38% of the voters still intend to vote for Rajoy.

Comment from Edith
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:56 pm

@ Stuart

Why should Rajoy move to Holland? :D

I would vote for Zapatero, not because I happen to like his special eyebrows (;-) but because of his political program.

Comment from Edith
Time: March 3, 2008, 8:59 pm

P.s.: Rajoy appears to be much more likeable than his predecessor Aznar, even though I don’t agree with many of his political views.

Comment from Mike
Time: March 3, 2008, 9:04 pm

On TVE1 they’ve been running a count down clock to the start of the debate all day in the top right of the screen - I know, I should have been working. Only one hour to go now… yawn… I was very disappointed in the quality of the first debate - they both seemed surprisingly ill-prepared and happy to accuse each other of lying, rather than promote new ideas for the future, but I suppose that’s politics.

Comment from luke
Time: March 3, 2008, 9:12 pm

Zap is certainly slicker but doesn’t seem to be doing much about the looming economic crisis. On a personal level, I like the guy with a beard from the united left party although his ideas are pretty outdated.
I’m amazed at the amount of parties you choose from. You get 36 choices, in the UK you will get about 8 depending on where you live. Of course that is proportional representation for you.
It’s also weird that the Carlists have returned to politics and there are two Falange parties. I’m told this return is fairly recent; is this true? The far-right parties in UK try to re-market themselves with new names but the strategy in Spain seems to be to ally themselves with the past. I know it is a tiny minority but interesting nevertheless.

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: March 4, 2008, 12:46 am

Why does Rajoy blame ZP for the AVE not being in Valencia yet?

Comment from llave inglesa
Time: March 4, 2008, 10:32 am

Last night debate was a shit. Rajoy is shit an ZP is a bigger stinky crap.

Comment from Andrew
Time: March 4, 2008, 10:41 am

Although this a thought provoking piece I just couldn’t choose between them based on the information given. Good luck to the contenders and may the best man win.

Comment from Theresa
Time: March 4, 2008, 11:18 am

So, ZP is wasting water by showering twice a day…must be all the sex he’s having.

Actually, whether or not politicians have sex, and who they have it with, doesn’t seem to be a big thing over here. Who cares anyway? I’m more worried about them doing other things, like screwing up the country…which both these guys are perfectly capable of doing. Isn’t there another option?

And has anyone found “La niña de Rajoy”? It seems she’s still missing.

Comment from Pepino
Time: March 4, 2008, 11:25 am

I like Llave Inglesa´s indepth political analysis!

I found the “style” of the debate off-putting. I mean the way the presenter controls the exact time that each politician had to speak. My head was spinning 5 minutes into the programme after listening to all the rules and regulations. It was like…

“OK, the candidates have changed seats, and the candidate from the PSOE party will be on my left, while the candiate from the PP will be on my right. First, the candidate from the PSOE will have 3 minutes precisely to give an introduction, followed by the candiate from the PP……”

Oh, for the love of God, somebody just blow a whistle and let them get on with it, pleeeease!. So long as the presenter is any good, she´ll keep control and ensure fairness all round, so the level of time control I found to be a big turn off.

Also, the habit of lifting pie charts and graphs on paper was a bit irritating. We couldn´t see them on the screen clearly, and they could´ve pointing at any old rubbish just to try to make a point.

Roll on Sunday, and let´s what happens then!

Comment from Graeme
Time: March 4, 2008, 12:30 pm

The reason why the times and conditions in the debate were so tight was the fault of the parties, not the presenters - there was even problems in finding 2 presenters acceptable to both sides. Everything from the colours used, the camera angles on the candidates to the temperature in the studio was all agreed in advance. That’s also why the debate was not really a debate and the role of the moderator was reduced to saying hello, your time’s up and thank you and goodnight.

Comment from Pepino
Time: March 4, 2008, 1:12 pm

Yep, I followed the fuss in the lead up to the agreement that the debate would even take place, and thought it was pretty crazy some of the things they were arguing about. Although, I recall the biggest fuss was about which TV channel it would go out on, and whether it would be freely distributed to other channels or not. But yes, the presenter was little more than a third wheel on the bike rather than being there to direct the questions and get the most out of the candidates.

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: March 4, 2008, 1:41 pm

So who is winning?

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: March 4, 2008, 1:41 pm

So who is winning?

Comment from Mike
Time: March 4, 2008, 1:52 pm

Yes, the format of the debate was frustrating to watch and pretty pointless as there was no flowing argument. Maybe I’m too used to seeing people like Dimbleby or Paxman chairing debates/political arguments on the Beeb.

@ValianceSon: So who is winning? Certainly not the electorate.

Comment from Parubin
Time: March 4, 2008, 2:14 pm

@ Valenciason :
IMO, both debates seemed like a close tie between them both (one would have liked one better than the other depending his/her preferences).

ZP looked confident on his re-election and somehow allowed Rajoy to show a more aggresive profile (Rajoy accused the President of lying a number of times) and had all topics and issues well prepared.

On the other hand Rajoy seemed more natural and sponateous giving quick responses as he probably is a better speaker and is better prepared for head to head discussion.

Most of the polls showed a significant and conclusive victory to ZP on both debates but it is argued (and could be probably true) that ZP’s victories on the polls are due to the opinion of people who will not vote for either candidate :

ZP has a far better image among the former communists and among the catalan and basque nationalist groups than Rajoy but it doesn´t mean that any of those minority groups will finally vote for him.

The truth is that the number “die hard fans” of both parties is pretty close and the nationalists and communists are not going to vote for either of them so the group of the ‘unsure’ or ‘yet to decide’ turns out to be decisive.

How both debates could have reached this target group is unknown.

ZP tried to mobilize as much people to vote this sunday as it is clear that the more people showing up to the ballot boxes the better chances he has (it has been historically proved that with greater attendance figures PSOE has a better chance and otherwise). It seems that Spanish society tends to be both pro-left but a bit difficult to fill with enthusiasm at the same time.

On the other hand Rajoy called on women and youth (both segments in which ZP seems to be better placed) and insisted on what he called the dangers of massive inmigration to the welfare of Spaniards, Europeans and current legal inmigrants.

If I had to place a bet for this sunday, I think ZP will win, he is ahead on the polls and in the recent history of Spain the second term re-election has always been a piece of cake for the contending President.

Comment from Stuart
Time: March 4, 2008, 2:56 pm

@Edith

It’s perhaps the only country that tie wouldn’t look out of place.

Comment from Tom
Time: March 4, 2008, 7:17 pm

Pepino: you should check out La Razon! It blows ABC out of the water!

Comment from Pepino
Time: March 4, 2008, 8:35 pm

@Tom. Oh lordy, I’d better give that a miss when I’m next down at the news kiosk

Comment from Parubin
Time: March 5, 2008, 10:52 am

More support for ZP (from both Spain and abroad in this video) coming from the world of art, literature, film, music… some nobel prize winners too, like José Saramago.

The intelectual elite has always been in favour of the Socialist Party in Spain.

Here is de link to the video :

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/05/eleccionesgenerales/1204708624.html

Comment from Edith
Time: March 5, 2008, 7:05 pm

@ Stuart

Yes, some of our politicians actually DO wear orange ties to show their national allegiance. Perhaps Rajoy is a secret fan of ours?

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: March 5, 2008, 11:30 pm

When will the debates end?

Comment from Graeme
Time: March 5, 2008, 11:53 pm

They’re done. No more debates, no more opinion polls. Two more days of campaigning, a day of reflection, then voting on Sunday.

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: March 6, 2008, 2:13 am

So besides age, personal hygiene habits, sleep requirements and sexual demands, what are the differences between the two, in the political context?

Comment from Nick
Time: March 7, 2008, 10:45 pm

Whatever his personal habits, Rajoy permanently looks like he’s wearing the Jeremy Beadle (God rest his soul) disguise that he used in Beadle’s about. At any moment, he looks like he could rip off his beard and produce that microphone in a gammy hand a la Beadle. Perhaps he is Jeremy Beadle and all the vitriol he comes out with is part of the act - Spain is being subject to one massive Beadle’s About this election.