The President is old: he is repeating things!

The theatre critics know the meaning of a huge success with a certain scene for an actor. He gets all the applauses of the fans, including the ones of the critics. If he is not strong enough or if he is addicted to the applauses, the actor will try to do that scene every time, no matter the part he is playing. He will try that even if he is interpreting Hamlet. Something similar happened to Traian Basescu during the campaign for the Referendum. And it wasn’t by chance.

The President is histrionic not only because he can cry on TV but also because of his addictedness to the public. I said repeatedly that Traian Basescu was able to sacrifice a serious political message in the favor of a media scandal. Since his speech couldn't bring any rating, he added a scandalous statement or a strange gesture. Before becoming President, Traian Basescu was very successful with this kind of behavior. It was perfect for him, a humble politician in the Opposition. In order to break the media wall built by SDP, Traian Basescu needed shocking gesture and statements. SDP ruled the political environment at that time. He had to become the David from David and Goliath in order to defeat that party. However, he was known for his quick moves and intelligence, which seduced the urban educated electorate that didn't have anything to do with SDP. He didn’t hesitate in doing what he had to do. Of course, SDP wasn't so powerful. However, the role of David had been perfect for Traian due to the public image of the social-democrats.

This behavior brought a tremendous electoral success to Traian Basescu. After he became President, he didn't realize that the public opinion saw him differently and wanted something else from him. Everybody saw him as the leader of the state, the leader above the internal political fair. Since where's David there has to be a Goliath as well, he started looking for the Goliath against whom to fight. At first, it was SDP. The former governing party was considered a great danger after the elections as well. Unfortunately for Traian Basescu, SDP entered the nightmare of internal confrontations. This determined Traian Basescu to switch targets and he successively went for other enemies: corrupted politicians, illegal interest groups, the 322, the media moguls, the oligarchs. Identifying them with the Goliath that David needed to fight against brought only failures. Only an idiot could believe that the President, the most powerful man in the state who masters the prosecutors, the secret services, the media and two parties, is the David fighting against Goliath. The most recent enemy that Traian Basescu picked was the entire Romanian political environment.

All the politicians became the new Goliath that David from Cotroceni had to defeat in the applauses of all the People. He used the same electoral means that he had used 3 years ago: stupid inducements, uninspired nicknames, great, but inane expressions, or the answering machine where his voice could be heard. This kind of means would have been great for the fight against SDP, but they were ridiculous in the context of the fight against all the politicians.

What rational man could see the most powerful man in Romania as David fighting against Goliath? Three years after the elections in 2004, Traian Basescu didn't realize he was the President of Romania. And he will not do that at all, because, in that case, he would have to eventually do something. He simply prefers talking continuously.

Courtesy of Jurnalul National.

Adding date: 03.12.2007