The first presidential debate ended and left little room for spontaneity. So little, that there was barely one episode in which the candidates went off script, but we viewers did not fully understand what happened because their microphones were closed. And the event was so constricted that we didn’t even see them shake hands – or refuse to greet each other – either at the beginning or at the end. Still, these are ten lessons he left behind.
First: no candidate emerged as the big winner or the big loser of the night. Each one sought to spread his message, raising certain flags. Javier Milei charged against the rest as examples of the “caste”; Sergio Massa promised that he will lead a Government of national unity; Patricia Bullrich invoked her courage and political power to do what needs to be done; Juan Schiaretti proclaimed federalism; and Myriam Bregman charged against the IMF. Little and no surprise there.
Second: Milei emerged victorious from the exchange. He never lost control of himself, nor raised his voice, and even chose to smile when others challenged or bullied him, or to say that he is capable of asking for forgiveness when he makes a mistake, like when he criticized Pope Francis. Because of how and on whom he concentrated the requests for his replies, it was clear that he wanted to bypass Bullrich and concentrate on Massa, with whom he envisions himself competing for the Casa Rosada. Stronger when debating the economy – although he avoided talking about dollarization – he was weaker when addressing his vision of education and vouchers which he proposes as a model.
Third: Massa confirmed that he is Massa, capable of stating without blushing that he was not part of Alberto Fernández’s government until he took office as Minister of Economy – as if the Frente Renovador had not integrated the Frente de Todos since 2019, with him at the helm of the Chamber of Deputies -, or to maintain that his Government will be the one that begins in December, and not “this Government”, despite the fact that he has led the Treasury Palace for a year. In the same way, he maintained that they criticize him for his “capacity for dialogue,” when in reality they accuse him of being “advantageous” (Mauricio Macri) or “fullero” (Cristina Fernández). But he managed to get out of the round trip alive. It is no small thing, given the very serious economic and social situation facing the country.
Fourth: Bullrich wasted the opportunity that the debate offered him. He squandered his questions to the other candidates, to the point of not asking or even completing his ideas before the allotted time. He struggled to convey his message coherently and assertively. She felt more comfortable when she addressed the security axis, but she showed a surprising lack of preparation compared to Milei and Massa, even when the candidates knew in advance what topics they would address and how much time they would have to express themselves. So much so, that Milei verbalized the general perception of her by taunting her that she offered him the third opportunity to explain her economic proposal because until then she had thrown out “sarasa”, that is, nothing in particular.
Fifth: in his wonderful book Debate to chair, academics Daniela Barbieri and Augusto Reina state that one of the great benefits that presidential debates provide is that they allow voters to get to know all the candidates, particularly those who are running from behind and tend to attract less journalistic attention. And boy did Schiaretti (the only one from the interior of the country) and Bregman (from the left) take advantage of it. Faithful each to their style and their electorate, both must have concluded the night satisfied.
Sixth: with a debate that limited spontaneity to a minimum, it was striking how little reference was made to the recent scandals of July Chocolate Rigau in the Buenos Aires Legislature and the resigned Chief of Staff of Axel Kicillof, Martín Insaurralde, on the yacht “Bandido” in the Mediterranean. There were only allusions to homeopathic doses, and it was striking that Milei did not invoke them to attack “caste.”
Seventh: each candidate insisted on a certain topic in particular. Milei repeated twice that “a different Argentina is impossible with the same people as always”; Bullrich hammered against Kirchnerism; Massa also charged a couple of times against the “criminal agreement” that Macri signed against the IMF; Bregman repudiated the IMF itself and economic power in general; and Schiaretti, as governor of Córdoba, branded himself as the defender and representative of the interior against the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires (AMBA).
Eighth: Milei starred in several of the most poignant moments of the night. In addition to accusing Bullrich of “sarasarando” Bullrich, she told Bregman that she never entered – and therefore, much less worked – in a private company. She was also able to draw an attractive future horizon when she stated that Argentina can be like Italy, France, Germany or the United States if given the opportunity and enough time. If we were talking about boxing, the libertarian managed to position himself in the center of the ring for much of the evening.
Ninth: if Milei and Massa’s verbal language showed them comfortable in the back-and-forth, Bullrich’s showed the opposite. With a pasty mouth, sticking her tongue out again and again to moisten her lips and drinking water from the spout of a bottle, the verbal language of the Together for Change candidate showed her uncomfortable and defensive, without a solid message or preparation enough. She committed unusual furces, like when she asserted that “without inflation you won’t buy a house.” She will have to improve a lot for the second and last debate next Sunday, if on October 22 she intends to reach the ballotage.
Tenth: the previous point leads us to the last reflection: each debate is important and has a life of its own. It is enough to remember the four that Richard Nixon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy held in 1960 to understand the importance of preparing and facing each one as if it were the decisive one. Because, indeed, it can be. Milei, Massa, Bullrich, Schiaretti and Bregman will meet again on Sunday the 8th, in Buenos Aires. And a lot of their destiny will be at stake in those two decisive hours.
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