Matteo Renzi turns fifty today and it seems like a lifetime has passed since he held the position now occupied by Giorgia Meloni. Now everything revolves around the right, Garbatella, her sister and ex-brother-in-law and the many facets that concern the figure of Meloni, the first female prime minister in republican history. Renzi, however, was the youngest Prime Minister. The year was 2014: politically, another era.

Renzi has speeded up politics

His rise to the Democratic Party, as a local Florentine administrator, was welcomed with curiosity even by those who were not centre-left. “Let’s see if he can send home that ruling class that doesn’t give up as it promises to do”, was the thought of many, at the end of the Berlusconi era. It is impossible to summarize such a dense political season in a short space: the choice of Sergio Mattarella as President of the Republic, the Good School, the Jobs Act, civil unions, the Delrio reform on the Provinces, Industry 4.0.

Once upon a time the news was filled with the magic lily, scouting as a training ground for life, the ex Margheritas, Tony Blair, the scrapping, Fonzie’s jacket, the Enricostaisereno, the newsletter, the pact of the Nazarene. Young, but with a pinch of all three of the great “ingredients” of the 80s, his formative decade: Andreotti, De Mita and Craxi. He has speeded up and made politics rapid, too rigid, collegial and with endless discussions on the left, but he has also reduced it to a tweet and the “Leopolda” events. The strategies seemed to be those of “House of Cards”, the popular American TV series, with a leading role for Denis Verdini.

What if he really retired?

He studied Berlusconi on a communication and image level, but he did not assimilate some of his life lessons. Once he reached the top, he dispensed more slaps than caresses to those who had led the party before him. He really wanted to scrap them in the public square. Outside of the “magic lily” and the Turberenzi supporters, he always found himself surrounded by adversaries, from the Bersanian-Dalemian left to the CGIL, which he himself teased from time to time. He has created enemies, inside and outside his ranks, with personal and gratuitous attacks. He did not work to unite, but disintegrated. The investigations (it must be said, ended in nothing) then ruined Renzian’s narrative and the Tuscan ruling class that came to national prominence: Maria Elena Boschi and Luca Lotti. The former boy scout was wrapped up in some events: the personalized Constitutional Referendum, the 15 thousand euros in his current account flaunted while his lifestyle told something else. Above all, the courageous attempt to (botchedly) reform the Constitution saw it founder. No one has forgiven him for his failed promise to retire from politics. If he had been stuck for a shift, in a center-left always short of leaders, his time would have come again. Instead he stayed, trying to get back in the saddle. Then he formed his own party, Italia Viva. He has launched himself into questionable operations, such as the role of testimonial for the beauties of Florence or relations with Saudi Arabia. Or the (aborted) union with Carlo Calenda, which ended with a mutual throwing of plates. He also brought down a government, favoring Mario Draghi’s arrival at Palazzo Chigi.

A thoroughbred politician like Giorgia Meloni

Renzi is a thoroughbred politician. Exactly like Giorgia Meloni. I remember him before a rally, ten years ago, in a small town in the Italian province. He arrived by train and remembered, without hesitation, the first names of the first eight or nine local party leaders who welcomed him first. First Republic stuff. Today what remains of the former Florentine prime minister? In the festive days between Christmas and the Epiphany, thanks to the exaggerated absence of Elly Schlein, who was on perpetual vacation, he was the center-left’s megaphone on all issues, from the government maneuver to the kidnapping of Cecilia Sala. He is still the most effective from a media point of view, the toughest from a physical point of view. As a showman, he has the ready joke, the piqued response, the counter-proposal in his pocket (the latest being to transform the migrant center in Albania into a prison), the play on words, the flawless reasoning. He was the only true leader, on the left, after Romano Prodi. Also capable of grabbing votes in the opposing camp. But his credibility is at its lowest. If he is satisfied with his 1-2 percent and to suggest, with his verve, a bit of the center-left’s agenda, and act as a counterpoint to the right, so good. Someone like him, however, could also exploit his talent in other fields. In 2013, the year he ascended to the Democratic secretariat, the goal was to lead the country in a great reformist season, like Tony Blair in Great Britain. He didn’t succeed. Maybe the time has come to pass the buck.