The country you want

If I had to summarize a campaign motif for a presidential candidate – and you know I’m itching to – I would start with this graph from the...

If I had to summarize a campaign motif for a presidential candidate – and you know I’m itching to – I would start with this graph from the latest poll by Venezuela’s best polling firm, Consultores 21: no fewer of 61% of respondents think the country Hugo Chávez wants is not the country they want. 35% think the opposite.

There’s a lot packed into those two diverging lines. It hits the gut. It speaks about aspirations. It puts a wedge between the voter and Chávez. It empowers people to think about what they want for their country. It frames the opposition’s message in patriotic terms. And most of all, it’s calamitous for Chávez.

Think about it. “The country you want is not the country he’s giving you.” Simple, emotional, and devastating. You could do a lot worse.

(H/t: La patilla)

C21