Wednesday 8 February 2012

Primaries for us, and for US



I think I have posted before about how similar I believe are the processes going on within the Alianza in Chile and the Republican Party in the US. They both seem to be fighting a kind of civil war between those who wish to win the next election, and those who are just as happy that they remain testimonial parties, true to their ideology. The Republican primaries this year have been all about that fight. But that's the good thing about primaries. They allow the parties to fight these things out, settle on a leader, and hopefully move on. Otherwise, one gets a situation such as the one the Chilean government has been going through, with open bickering amongst different factions.

Here is a column I wrote last week for La Segunda on the subject. Since it was published, Rick Santorum's success has only proven how unwilling many Republicans are to accept the candidate who clearly has the best chance of winning. Obama must be smiling.

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