 We in the U.S. have got our own election campaign to worry about, but some of you may be interested in what's going on politically on this side of the Atlantic. As the campaign for the April 13-14 Italian national election heats up, the major contenders are rushing to seize on their rivals' weaknesses. This past week, for example, the press was full of leftwing indignation over Silvio Berlusconi's latest ill-conceived attempt at humor. There are conflicting claims about how the various parties are doing in the polls, bitter arguments about candidacies, little talk about programs and a - as everywhere - examples of individual stupidity.
On a TV program aired on the evening of Wednesday, March 12, the former (and probably future) prime minister was asked by a young woman how in today's uncertain economic climate, a young person can plan for the future. The question was an apt one in Italy where one of the major issues is the fact that many young people are today defined as precari, people who may be working at low-paying jobs (the average is $1200 per month) on short term contracts but who have been unable to find the proverbial posto fisso, which basically means a life-time job. One solution, said Berlusconi, would be for her to marry a millionaire's son like his own son, Pier Silvio, or someone else."With a smile like yours, you shouldn‘t have any trouble", he said, a comment that many people here thought at best irrelevant, at worst a sign that the former premier's predilection for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time has not faded with time. Berlusconi, as could have been expected, said they were making a mountain out of a molehill and that humor is important. And his interlocutor, a young, attractive brunette (although who knows for how long since most Italian women seem to prefer being blonde) with the improbable name of Perla Pavoncello, clearly agreed, One day later it was announced she would run on Berlusconi's ticket in the Rome municipal elections, also scheduled for April. She later changed her mind but said she would vote for Berlusconi. "After what he said about my smile, how could I not".  Walter Veltroni
Although Berlusconi did not keep most of the promises he made to the electorate the first two times he ran for office, many people still seem to believe what he says and, at the same time, not to trust the center left which was so hamstrung by inner conflicts that in two years of government it got very little done. For some reason, many people sweem to believe that the country's negative economic situation can be laid at the feet of outgoing prome minioster Romano Prodi. But this does not make sense as economies take a long time to gather or lose strength and it was Berlusconi who was in power from 2001 to 2006. Prodiìs government, true, failed to make things better, but did not cause problems such as Italy's enormous public debt, its ineffcient government, excessive public spending and rampant tax evasion.  Giuseppe Ciarrapico
 Gianfranco Fini
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