But things have changed lately and I have wondered whether what Capriles is doing has any real worth.
Let's start with his campaign negatives. I see people bemoaning that he is not as high in the polls as he supposedly should be. And I agree though I am not surprised at all. I wrote often during the primary campaign that Capriles was winning the primary on what should have been his general election campaign themes. As such after winning he kept doing the same thing he was doing before but now it is not interesting, it is déjà vu, and it cannot match the drama of Chavez multiple healings and generous new laws that he will not pay for. By not courting the radical vote as it is supposed to be done in primary campaigns, Capriles failed to mobilize fully his electorate. Now we are reading all sorts of tweets from Lopez trying to motivate folks. For naught, I am afraid. When Capriles says that no one will be fired, that no public employees should be afraid for their job (does that include Luisa Estela Morales Lamuño?) that he would not increase gas prices, I just turn off, trying to avoid not to get outright mad at him.
Oh, I will vote for him, of course, and I will try to convince a few. But I am lacking the emotion that would help me do a good job at it. Capriles is running the Datanalisis campaign and his polls are showing: for any NiNi he wins a supporter falls asleep.
Still, all is not lost. After all, his campaign has started to do some positive steps. It is more openly critical of the regime. Capriles has dared confront the chavista media that tags him for pure harassment. That is a cheap way to throw raw meat at his radical wing. He is even starting to visit every corner of the country, the "casa por casa", which should have started long ago and for which I was criticized over a year ago, among others by my distinguished blogger colleague JC when I wrote that even Tocopero should be visited. Better late than never, I suppose.
The campaign has also started taking into account some of the stark realities of today. For example, the assassination attempt against Londoño today in Bogota tell us that the regime is not above killing Capriles if needed. This has to be one of the not readily acknowledged reasons why suddenly Leopoldo Lopez has taken more prominence in the campaign and why even Maria Corina Machado starts appearing next to Capriles in some meetings. The counter message is clear: we have people ready to step in if necessary.
And thus we reach the title of this post: does Capriles matter?
In this fin de règne atmosphere, it seems that nothing really matters until Chavez croaks once and for all, until the different factions of chavismo settle their inner scores, until eventually conditions for elections, real elections, can be achieved. In a way I am suspecting that the opposition Unidad senses that and does the only thing it can do while waiting, to campaign, even if some of us do not agree with the style, even if more and more people doubt that there will be a vote on October 7.
The point here is that in recent months the decrepitude and corruption of the chavista regime have been revealed so deep that the lone objective has become a change of regime, even for many chavistas. It does not matter anymore who will be the next president, even if chavista: the poor sap will have to pay for all the excesses committed in recent years. As such maybe Capriles's attitude reflect to us his inner conviction that he is sacrificing himself for the country. He knows he may be shot any time soon. He knows that when he reaches power he will have to backtrack on 90% of his promises. He knows that within months of his swearing in he will be despised by way too many people to be able to finish his term.
But the reality it that the only thing that matters now is to exit the Chavez era. All the rest are mere details. It does not matter anymore whether Capriles is the guy doing that, as long as it is done.