Vittoria Ferdinandi (10 cum laude): Writing about his merits is now banal – everyone has done it – suffice it to say that he hasn’t missed a beat. Even that closed fist on April 25 was a masterpiece: on the one hand, he strengthened that left-wing pride that had been somewhat lost, reaffirming the historical role of the left in that Resistance that led to the Republic. And in addition, he led the center-right to imitate the mistakes of the left in the past regarding anti-Berlusconism and anti-fascism applied to every political rival. An attitude that brings bad luck and above all doesn’t bring votes. And it was evident.
The other great merit is of a strategic nature: to exalt those sides of the left which are not just about fighting, which do not generate enemies and which are not the old, the past… but represent the joy of living, the smile, the hope, the myth of peace and the participation of a community in the life of its neighborhood. A left of the quality of life and free time to spend. And this brought a portion of the people back to the left who had been lost. It’s a piece of radical chic to get up from your living room or theater and go looking for votes for her. It is obvious that you spent a lot, that you had a super director who came from afar and specialized in these tough and comeback electoral campaigns. It is obvious that to make Ferdinandi’s offer more attractive, flags, party symbols and anything else attributable to a left-centre were sacrificed. Its part of the game. And then the added element, the one that makes the difference, was herself with her history, with her pride in being a woman and a leftist, with her smile (considered contagious for many, for others a sort of mask designed ) and that charisma that few people have: that gets inside you, that takes your heart as well as your mind, that makes simple slogans pass for future projects (but it is normal for those who have yet to get to know the municipal machine not to venture into declarations that could then be debased months later by economic accounts or municipal regulations).
In short, a charisma that is difficult to describe and very, very similar to that of the outgoing mayor from the opposite political camp Andrea Romizi; both at different times accomplished a great political feat. But Vittoria also made a mistake that reduced the consensus gap (the first week of the ballot was around 54 percent): in the last seven days she had sat back a bit, above all making her committee work (a war model American elections) when the brand was her and she had started to complain a little too much about the attacks she had suffered (both sides did not hold back). People don’t like victimhood, even if true. But then the last two days blocked the result with two ingenious ideas: the double-decker bus which on the left is a symbol of celebration, pride and historic protest marches and for the less politicized people it is the symbol of the great victories of the national team football and the Champion.
Closure at the Frontone: symbol of the people and in the historic center. On the alliance front: he left the right to raise the tone to the Democratic Party and the 5 Star Movement, while in the civics he aimed at candidates who represented categories, Perugia territories and various problems. But the leap in quality to conquer an important part of the centrist-Catholic-moderate electorate (until the day before yesterday with Romizi) occurred with two moves: the first, to qualify herself as the mayor ready to also address the issues of peace and dialogue. The second: the alliance with the moderates and third-party politicians of Giacomo Leonelli (Perugia Pensa) who brought 6 percent of the votes and acted as guarantor of a government that the numbers tell us is still left-centre.
I conclude: in life you have to be lucky… Vittoria benefited from sensational errors by her opponents who only changed course from the run-off onwards, but it was too late. She is the first female mayor of Perugia, this too is a lot, a lot of stuff. Now she will be called upon to govern Perugia and all citizens, even those who did not vote for her, must give her time to grow, learn and decide on the city she has in mind. In five years the people of Perugia will say at the ballot box whether it was a successful bet or not. It’s democracy, baby!
