In Andalusia, there is no favorite in the polls who dares to leave the chair empty in an electoral debate. Javier Arenas did not debate in 2012 and his absolute majority remained forever frozen in the press headlines. Since not debating was not an option, the president of the Junta, Juan Manuel Moreno, the winning horse in all the surveys, has agreed to participate in two televised clashes before May 17 despite the risk it poses for him. This was evident in the first round on Monday night, which served his opponents as a platform to take him out of his comfort zone.
Because Moreno has been very comfortable for a couple of months. Since he is not Carlos Mazón (he was where he should be in the Adamuz accident) nor Isabel Díaz Ayuso (he did not seek conflict with the Government at first), the Andalusian president has been touring national televisions and patron saint festivals since February 28 on a high. In tears, that Andalusia Day inaugurated the narrative of his campaign and buried the breast cancer screening crisis, in which he had left some hairs in the gate. He overcame it, shielded his political profile, and since then has walked peacefully through the turbulent political news without anything touching him. Until this Monday in the debate, where he was alone and defended his management by attacking that of Pedro Sánchez and the socialist governments of years ago. He even read a document from 21 years ago.
Opinion polls say that the PP candidate is very solid, but the left rolled up their sleeves in the difficult task of dismantling “Juanma.” He did not lose his composure (even though the papers were on the floor), but he did lose the calm of these months of electoral stroll. Not because María Jesús Montero won (excessively restrained, worried about looking at her notes and not clashing as a presidential candidate) nor any of the other opponents (Antonio Maíllo, Por Andalucía, and José Ignacio García, from Adelante Andalucía, had a couple of good feints to remember), but the left as a whole came out better than it went into the debate because it had the opportunity to remind Andalusians of their reasons to challenge the narrative of the one leading the race.
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And they left almost nothing out. From the breast cancer screening crisis to fiscal policy with tax breaks for high incomes or VPOs over 300,000 euros, all the policies that weaken the Andalusian baron from the center came up in the debate while he kept a striking silence in the face of Vox’s recurring appeal to the “national priority,” the axis of the ultra campaign. Moreno had previously distanced himself from the content of the PP agreements in Extremadura and Aragon but on television, with the opportunity to settle the matter live, he avoided a face-to-face with his potential partner.
Given what was seen on RTVE, the best thing that could happen to Juan Manuel Moreno is that the campaign ended now and not give new opportunities to stir up the competition, which so far has been little contested. But there are many days left to digest the result of the first clash and celebrate another debate on Canal Sur. Some say that Montero arrived very late in Andalusia and that Moreno started very early. And that election campaigns feel long when you are ahead on the scoreboard.
