Achtsioglou vs Kasselakis
I wrote the other day about the controversial video uploaded by Stefanos Kasselakis, a candidate for the leadership of the main opposition SYRIZA, of his visit to Makronissos (a small island off the coast of Attica used as a notorious military prison and concentration camp for leftists and communists from the time of the Greek Civil War until the restoration of democracy in 1974), saying that despite a general outcry and internal party reactions, it is very likely that this Instagrammable “story” on the absolute historical symbol of the oppression of the Greek Left will find supporters.
Where? With the people who agree with Kasselakis. With the members of a younger generation who have no real idea what Makronissos means, both as a historical context and as an extreme human experience, and people imbued with the lulling lightness of the barrage of beautified digital images, who find the walk of a glamorous candidate around one of the biggest shames of modern Greece very “cool.”
However, Kasselakis’ video will not appeal just to a single generation. It is not only some 20-somethings and 30-somethings who will like it. There are also some 40- to 50-somethings who seem to have forgotten themselves, how they used to live without a digital avatar before the advent of social media, and now indulge in a frantic, informal competition on Instagram. They are the ones who supposedly can’t stand the “leftist misery” anymore and now see something in Kasselakis with which they might even identify with.
The fact is that in the stagnant waters of SYRIZA’s leadership race – a news story largely ignored by many outside of the party’s headquarters even though it concerns the future of the country’s official opposition party – Kasselakis fell like a meteor, raising tidal waves.
Thus, what I wrote about the Makronissos video possibly benefiting his race is indirectly confirmed by the latest opinion polls. Yes, fellow candidate Effie Achtsioglou continues to lead, but in two particular follow-up questions – on the preferable candidate among those who stated that they will definitely or probably vote on Sunday and those asked “Who do you think can defeat Kyriakos Mitsotakis?” – Kasselakis leads. In the first question, Kasselakis gets 39% versus 31% for Achtsioglou, while in the second, he gets 40% compared with 33% for his fellow candidate.
As things stand right now, Saturday’s leadership vote in SYRIZA will lead to a second round, with a “duel” expected between these two candidates. Euclid Tsakalotos, a former finance minister with Alexis Tsipras’ 2015-2019 government who carried the enormous burden of economic policy, and one of the key members of the party, is very likely to be left out.
Image can be relentless. It annihilates previous experience, tenures, projects, sacrifices, studies at the University of Oxford and so on.
The recipe for success is summed up as follows: be media-savvy; create a persona. Also, you can be different, but you cannot be boring. Everything else is irrelevant. This, to a large extent, is the spirit of our age.
