Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Si puo’ fare: it’s how you say YES WE CAN in Italian and it’s all the rage as Italy braces for yet another snap election next month. Si puo’ fare is the slogan for Democrat Walter Veltroni, the former Rome mayor now running for Prime Minister against controversial media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi. A professed admirer of the U.S., Veltroni has modeled his campaign around that of Barack Obama. He’s currently touring Italy on a green painted bus that says in big letters, “A MODERN ITALY. IT CAN BE DONE.”

In towns and cities, Veltroni’s supporters hand out t-shirts with the Si puo’ fare slogan printed in 22 different Italian dialects.

Veltroni’s website is all about social networking and online fundraising.

And on You Tube, a slick, black and white slideshow evoking the “Yes we can” Obama music video produced by will.i.am reminds Italian voters - especially young voters - they should opt for change.

So how much of an Italian Obama is Veltroni?

At first blush, his Yes we can feels a bit like a parody.

Averagely-built, grey-haired and soft-spoken - the media call him “Mr. Nice Guy” - Veltroni’s charm doesn’t quite match that of Obama.

But by Italian political standards, Veltroni, 52, is actually hot stuff.

Italians have long lost faith in their political establishment. The country’s politicians are generally old and “recycled.” (Berlusconi, 71, and Romano Prodi, 69, have taken turns holding the top spot in Italy’s political hierarchy for years). The government being elected in April will be Italy’s 62nd since World War II. So Veltroni is striking a cord with voters when he talks about “turning the page,” “unity” and “new politics,” quoting profusely JFK, Obama and Martin Luther King.

Berlusconi, who served as Prime Minister twice, still dominates the polls. But Veltroni has been gaining ground lately, cutting Berlusconi’s lead to about 7 percentage points from 12 points a few weeks ago. “Look at Obama,” he recently told reporters who were asking him about Berlusconi’s edge. “Three months ago nobody would have bet on him, now look where he is.”

Veltroni actually met Obama back in 2005 and prefaced the Italian edition of his book, “The Audacity of Hope.” He also wrote about Robert Kennedy earlier in his career.

Critics say Veltroni mimics Obama’s call to optimism to divert attention from harder questions of policy.

“He says Yes we can. I say, Yes we will!” said Berlusconi at a recent rally.

Sounds familiar?