Foreign policy is more rewarding and less boring than the unintended effects of the bickering of domestic debates. Pedro Sánchez is a champion of resilience, weathering storms with the skill of Caesar in the Gallic War. Its presence in the international arena is an unquestionable success. This year he traveled by night train to see Zelenski in Kyiv, was invited to visit Xi Jinping in Beijing and will now open the municipal and regional campaign with a photo with Joe Biden at the White House on May 12.
He is a figure quoted at international summits, speaks fluent English and has played the Atlanticist card, despite the fact that his partners in the Government speak and demonstrate against decisions of the Council of Ministers, adopted by themselves. Governing with a broken government has its merits, but it is a danger if the hostilities that boil the most come precisely from within the Executive.
Sánchez has no friends or enemies but, remembering Lord Palmerston's phrase, referring to England, he only moves for his personal political interests. He is lucky that the balls that stop at the edge of the net fall on his side. Napoleon asked if the generals he wanted to appoint were lucky. But luck was not enough to win the decisive battle, that of Waterloo, against the Duke of Wellington.
A wrong foreign policy remains electoral, but brilliant international management does not always translate into optimal results. This is what I heard from President Bush Sr. when he ran for re-election in 1992, after winning the Kuwait war and defeating the USSR in the long cold war. He lost to an unknown Bill Clinton, governor of Arkansas, who said that "it's the economy, stupid". The factor of the third candidate, Ross Perot, went against him.
Elections are won, above all, if the perception is positive for that wide sector of the electorate that swings from the center left to the center right days before voting. Overacting, even if they are reasoned, can be counterproductive if they are interpreted as unnecessary propaganda. The fragmentation of Podemos could not add but subtract. It should not be ruled out that it will be dispensed with after May 28. He would let go of ballast if he sees fit.
