WHERE'S FRANCO WHEN YOU NEED HIM?:

Spain's voters face two distinct visions: The nation will plot its course at voting booths 'stained with blood' the day after the Socialist Workers Party helps to bury assassinated activist Isaias Carrasco. (Tracy Wilkinson, 3/09/08, Los Angeles Times)

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the Socialist Workers Party have used his four-year term to promote some of the most liberal social reforms in Europe. They pushed a more independent foreign policy after years of pro-U.S. government, moved to limit the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and expanded the rolls of immigrant labor.

The Socialists' rival, in what has been a bitter, hard-fought campaign, is the right-wing Popular Party led by Mariano Rajoy. Backed by the church, Rajoy and his party advocate reversing or slowing many of the Socialists' reforms, restricting immigration and curtailing autonomy for Spain's restive regions.

Polls, which by law were suspended last week, have given the Socialists a slight edge, but much depends on voter turnout. If 70% or more of Spain's 35 million eligible voters cast ballots, which is possible, the Socialists will probably win, said Julian Santamaria, a political scientist and prominent pollster.

But, he added, the margin of victory "may be an insufficient advantage [for the winner] to be able to govern."

The Socialists' campaign has focused on telling voters that a Popular victory would turn the clock back on reforms and return Spain to a reactionary past.

They should be so fortunate.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 9, 2008 8:55 AM