Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Prodi boosts election chances with TV debate win

Prodi boosts election chances with TV debate win
ROME, Mar 15 (Reuters) Italian opposition leader Romano Prodi's bid to win  
an April general election got a boost from his strong showing in a  
head-to-head television debate with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Four snap opinion polls said Prodi bettered Berlusconi in yesterday's  
confrontation, defying political pundits who had predicted that the  
media-savvy prime minister would outgun his sometimes dour opponent.
Berlusconi, whose coalition is trailing in opinion polls, admitted at the  
end of the 1-1/2 hour confrontation that he had failed to get his message  
across, while a smiling Prodi said he was ''very happy'' with the outcome.
Although the former European Commission president did not land any  
knockout blows, the fact that he appeared more composed and upbeat than  
the often defensive Berlusconi was heralded as a triumph by his  
centre-left allies.
Berlusconi's centre-right partners were largely silent, no doubt hoping  
their man improves his performance in a second encounter scheduled for the  
week before the April 9-10 vote.
Nearly 17 million Italians tuned into the debate, roughly a third of all  
voters, and were treated to a sometimes turgid, occasionally heated and  
always highly regulated encounter.
Berlusconi, who constantly fiddled with his pen, clearly felt  
uncomfortable with the strict structure of the debate and regularly  
overran the time limit for his answers.
''It seems to me we have not succeeded, at least as far as I am concerned,  
in giving Italians what they wanted to know,'' he said in his closing  
comments, a rare admission of failure for a man famed for his sunny  
optimism and hard-hitting rhetoric.
But a satisfied Prodi dismissed suggestions the clash was dull.
''We are not ballet dancers. We were talking about the problems of the  
country,'' he said today.
POINTS VICTORY Almost all Italian newspapers said Prodi had won a points  
victory by focusing more on his future plans than Berlusconi, who  
constantly referred back to the problems his government inherited when it  
stormed to victory in a 2001 election.
''Bad, bad, bad,'' Berlusconi was quoted as saying by Il Messaggero  
newspaper after the debate, which centred largely on economic and domestic  
issues.
The prime minister had pushed hard for a head-to-head with Prodi, hoping  
that a direct confrontation would help him close the gap on the  
centre-left, which stands at some 4 percentage points, by winning over the  
large number of undecided voters.
But while Prodi regularly smiled and directly addressed the camera,  
Berlusconi adopted a more negative tone, repeatedly accusing his opponent  
of ''distorting the truth''. Berlusconi also poured out a torrent of  
statistics.
A Piepoli poll said 38 per cent of viewers thought Prodi had won the  
encounter against 35 per cent for Berlusconi. A Swg poll put Prodi ahead  
by 42.6 per cent to 35.6, a Contacta poll put Prodi at 50.6 per cent to  
49.4, while a survey in la Repubblica daily gave victory to Prodi by 50  
per cent to 44 per cent.
The outcome was greeted with relief by Piero Fassino, head of the largest  
opposition party, the Democrats of the Left.
''On the one side there was a statesman who was precise, concrete,  
passionate and looked forward to the future. On the other side there was a  
man on the defensive, who was pointlessly polemical and devoid of  
arguments,'' he told reporters.
Berlusconi's allies said their man had been hindered by the debate format,  
which was copied from US presidential races.
''Berlusconi should drop this kind of confrontation and go instead to the  
streets and squares for direct contact with the people,'' said Roberto  
Calderoli, a senior leader in the ruling coalition party, the Northern  
Leagu
-- 
Ralph Barker
L.A.P. Legionario Azzurro Pagante
L.I.P.C.S. Lega Italiana Protezione Carciofo Silvio
"Io al Pil non ci ho mai creduto, non l'ho mai incontrato per strada"
silvio berlusconi 10.09.2005

(Reuters)