Santilli, in Mar del Plata, together with Mauricio Macri/Prensa Pro
Diego Santilli is considering giving his candidacy a confirmation bias: his campaign team is currently defining the profile of what they call a “pre-launch” that would take place during the first days of next month. It is a movement that has been studied by his main swords and that basically aims to place him on the platform of the best positioned opposition leader to beat Axel Kicillof.
Although the format of the public demonstration is under discussion, everything seems to indicate that the “Colorado” will avoid the formality of a party event. The idea is to travel an alternative path “and get in touch with people in a less politicized way”, they evaluate in their environment. For this reason, the format of a move is gaining space through social networks. “It will be something disruptive”, they promise.
The need to be more forceful with Santilli’s political project has several origins. One has to do with what the national deputy himself has been collecting in his tours of the Province and the recurring question of whether he will be a candidate for governor. Although the man sponsored by Horacio Rodríguez Larreta within the Juntos por el Cambio intern moves as such, he never finished making it explicit.
But perhaps the issue that has the most specific weight and that pushes for some kind of definition has to do with the internal scene of the PRO in which competitors abound, all moving under the wing of Patricia Bullrich. “The Colo is the one with the greatest knowledge among the people and the one that registers the most voting intentions,” they say on her team. The idea that arises is to show him as “the benchmark” in the fight that, they estimate, will go hand in hand with the current governor Axel Kicillof.
Close to Santilli, they air some numbers of polls that have just appeared to support that premise. For example, that of CBC Consultora that was held in the Province between the 10th and 16th of this month. The work of the firm led by Cristian Buttié notes some interesting aspects. When evaluating the intention to vote for the names of sonas for governor in Juntos por el Cambio, Santilli is first with 15.4%, followed by the mayor Diego Valenzuela (4.2%), the national deputy Cristian Ritondo (2.9% ), the radical Gustavo Posse (2.6%), the national deputy of the UCR Martín Tetaz (1.6%), the mayor of Lanús Néstor Grindetti (1.3%) and the senator Joaquín De la Torre (0, 3%).
That same poll reveals an open scenario in the fight with the Frente de Todos and Kicillof. Santilli would beat the current president by 1 point (33.1 to 32). Technical draw.
This auspicious data for the opposition contrasts with another: Kicillof, despite the wear and tear of the ruling party, has a positive image among Buenos Aires residents that climbs to 39 percent. This is a high weighting for the president who seeks his re-election.
The idea of Santilli’s prelaunch also reflects the need to go marking ground to give the internal fight within the PRO. Installing him as the “best” candidate means partly paving the way to convince a tougher electorate that today is in tune with Bullrich and his candidates.
There is a maximum aspiration that the very internal dynamics of the party created by Mauricio Macri seems to leave little room for it to materialize: that Santilli ends up being the only candidate in the space. “Today that scenario does not exist directly. Bullrich and his candidates need to be on the field because they block leaks towards Milei’s assembly ”, they point out in sectors of the PRO. Everything seems to lead to a step in which it will be seen if, in addition, the radicals will score.
Meanwhile, close to Santilli, they are making efforts not to appear targeted by Macri’s supposed rejection of the “Colorado”. For this reason, in recent days a photo of both of them in Mar del Plata at the presentation of the former president’s book was widely disseminated. That gesture will be, shortly, accompanied by another: a visit by Santilli to Macri in which he will develop the government plan that he plans to apply in the Province in case he is elected.
