Communication is a key element of government work. It is a task that does not stop: it knows the deadlines, but lives in the emergency. Personal talent for politics can be obscured by poor communication and, conversely, someone who is pure communication can become a talented politician. One of the challenges facing whoever would become Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s successor was precisely that of communication. Sheinbaum and his team probably thought that just following the Peje method be successful. The president even went so far as to imitate the Tabasco native’s slow tone. He also chose to blame everything on former president Felipe Calderón and his perverse opponents. The result was a disaster. The president is facing a large crisis, and her communication only causes her to dive deeper into the problems, becoming trapped in her own words.
Upon his arrival as president, Sheinbaum left the same dark and perverse person in charge of communications as he was with López Obrador. With the difference that the former president had no choice but to give impetus to his jokes and his rudeness: the communication strategy was the president’s own. This is not the case with Sheinbaum, who may have many talents, but not that of being a skilled and insightful communicator. Maybe that’s why they say it’s scientific. It needs the script to be developed and that’s not bad, it’s even better for planning. Mr. Jesús Ramírez, supposedly responsible for that area, has decided to appear in some interviews and the nonsense he says is truly astonishing, which explains the mess that the presidential message has turned into. If López Obrador used his morning speeches to denigrate his opponents and crush opponents, Sheinbaum, for his part, gave wings to an opposition that wasn’t even present: he gave it presence and meaning.
The issue of the 15N march is the clearest example of the failure of the presidency’s communication model. An event that few knew about proved to be a breaking point for the government. The president hasn’t stopped talking about it every day. First he went big with his promotion, then he blamed the presence of foreign forces in the organization and promotion of the march; He devoted effort and time to spying on young tweeters to expose them as highly dangerous conspirators. He even gave the PAN a capacity for influence and organization that the white and blue team unfortunately lacks.
Worse still, the presidency believes that images of violence that have become international news can be overshadowed by a march in support of their government. Because the matter ended there: a whim to mobilize one’s support. He certainly believes it will be globally relevant to see a group of MPs marching in gratitude to their government supporters. You should understand that violence is the main problem because it goes hand in hand with other violence: that of organized crime which is rampant throughout the country.
As long as the president keeps talking about the march and how bad her opponents are, it will be impossible for her to highlight the real fight against crime. The news of the arrest of the mastermind behind the murder of Carlos Manzo took a backseat to the stupidity of criticizing the enemies that the president invented. Because, in fact, it seems that Batman has finally hung up his cape, left Gotham City and went to Michoacán to work. Arresting the criminal was no mean feat, but the president’s discussion focused not on the evilness of the killer, but on the tweets of a young PAN member. Even a politician’s enemies reveal their priorities.
The mornings turned out to be a trap for the president and a delight for his detractors. As long as she continues to trap herself, she will do the damage to herself that her opponents don’t do to her.
@juanizavala
