Many wonder how it was possible that the mayor of Terni, Stefano Bandecchi, was unable to bring in the avalanche of votes that the Northern League member Donatella Tesei would have needed to maintain the seat of president of Umbria. Yet those spits in the face of a citizen who dared to challenge him under Palazzo Spada, enhanced with two nice sips of water, were incredibly in line with the level of a certain electorate, that of the “malox” (written strictly with only one “a” ) of the “communist ticks” (also evoked by a deputy prime minister) and of all that corollary of expressions and insults from eight-year-old children with behavioral problems that characterize part of the “political debate” (the quotation marks are a must).

Mayor Stefano Bandecchi spat in the face of a citizen

Bandecchi aside, by just over eight thousand votes – those that Andrea Orlando would have needed to become president of Liguria – the centre-left missed the 3-0 mark in the regional elections which took place between October and November of this year. If the former minister had achieved his objective and his coalition had not inexplicably fallen apart in one region out of three, today many would speak of triumph, of the inexorable decline of Giorgia Meloni, of the unbeatable “Campo Largo” and of other creatures fantastic. From this point of view, for the coalition led by Elly Schlein’s Democratic Party, the misstep in Liguria could even be considered a positive fact, because it helps to keep its feet on the ground.

The profound differences between the two coalitions

What is quite evident is that the unity of the centre-left is the only key that can lead it to victory. That the voters who would never vote for the right-wing parties in government today represent the so-called “silent majority” is a fact that can be verified using a simple calculator, perhaps not the prime minister’s. It has been like this since the early nineties, since Silvio Berlusconi’s infamous “take to the field” made Italy a basically bipolar country. A bipolarism broken, for a short period, by the boom of the 5 Star Movement, which exceeded 30 percent in the wake of an anti-system protest vote which then dissolved, like the same creature created by Beppe Grillo and Gianroberto Casaleggio , in the same system he wanted to overthrow.

Today the political picture is much more similar to the pre-M5S one, with two opposing poles that vaguely recall the old alignments: the “Polo of Freedoms” and the “Olive Tree”. Of course, the balance has changed a lot: today what was once the centre-right is a coalition that expresses much more radical positions and even more violent language than that used by its founder, who was extremely obsessed with communists. The reference electorate, however, has remained the same and moves from one force to another of the same coalition: once the hegemonic party was Forza Italia, for a short period it was Matteo Salvini’s League and now it is Fratelli d ‘Italy. As for the centre-left, the situation has always been more complicated. Today, like yesterday, the hegemonic electorate of the coalition is the son (now grandson…) of what was the electorate of the PCI, which over the years has passively suffered the continuous mutations of its reference terminal, to the point of finding itself having to vote the Democratic Party, a party that until yesterday was an “everything and nothing” that passed, without interruption, from fine words on the reception of migrants to the Minniti decrees. The Fausto Bertinotti of the moment, the one who represents a more radical vote and blows up the tables, is called Giuseppe Conte.

The left-wing voter is more “demanding”

Unlike the right-wing electorate, “educated” by Berlusconi to be faithful even when his political staff turns out to be corrupt or crumbling, the centre-left electorate is more mobile and for some time no longer treats voting as an act of faith, even choosing to don’t practice it. This is demonstrated by the turnout in Emilia Romagna, where Michele de Pascale won by a landslide but more than half of those eligible were missing. It is probable that many of the right remained at home because they were aware of a challenge that was out of reach, but with more than half of the “red region” having deserted the polls it would be a serious mistake if those who won did not have some problems. The centre-left’s priority is now to give itself a shape and appear, first and foremost to its potential electorate, as a credible alternative. Elly Schlein, like it or not, has managed to give a shape to the Democratic Party which is now no longer the electoral sign of “who’s there, there is”, but something that looks a little more like a left-wing party. She succeeded because, unlike her predecessors, she does not come from the traditional parties and does not worry too much about the daughter currents of those parties, with whom she dialogues on an equal footing, without being subjected to diktats.

Elly Schlein’s “mission”.

After all, she has a social background that allows her not to have to “live off politics” by begging for a place as a deputy, senator or MEP and consequently she doesn’t suffer much from the shadow of the permanent congress that is so popular in that party. Now, however, the Democratic secretary will have to find a way to get everyone else to sit at a table, from Giuseppe Conte to Matteo Renzi, from Angelo Bonelli to Carlo Calenda, from Nicola Fratoianni to Riccardo Magi. And he will have to find a way to get them all to agree on four or five priorities to propose to the country: a bit like what the right did with the “naval blockade”, the abolition of excise duties and the mythological bridge over the Strait, to understand. Obviously, unlike the right, it will have to find feasible proposals, because the level of the electorate is a little different. A much more complicated undertaking than winning in Emilia Romagna and Umbria, but decisive. Only if Elly Schlein is able to give a shape to the centre-left, as she gave it to her party, things will get really bad for the centre-right and the various Bandecchis will be able to dabble in the ancient art of spitting without running the risk of them becoming mayors .