Cristina Kirchner no Times On line

Argentina’s new Evita Peron tangoes her way to power

WHEN Senator Hillary Clinton appeared on Capitol Hill displaying a hint of cleavage, she sparked off a media furore about women in power, the way they dress and the role of femininity in American politics.
There has been no such fuss over the presidential campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, whose enthusiasm for mascara and designer handbags has played no small part in her seemingly effortless stroll towards victory in next Sunday’s elections in Argentina.
Like Clinton, Kirchner, 54, is the politically accomplished wife of a president with her own designs on the presidency. She is a Peronist senator from Buenos Aires province; her husband is Nestor Kirchner, the architect of Argentina’s economic revival, whose decision to stand down so that his wife can succeed him opens the door to a decade or more of family rule.
But unlike Clinton, the woman to whom most Argentinians refer simply as Cristina has deployed her glamour and sexuality as potent weapons on her way to a goal that not even the legendary Eva Peron was able to achieve.
With recent polls showing her up to 30 points clear of her nearest rivals, Kirchner seems certain to become the first woman elected to the Casa Rosada, the pink-walled presidential palace in Buenos Aires. (Isabel Peron, Evita’s successor as wife to Juan Peron, the former president, was appointed president when her husband died.)
In the process, Kirchner has been coolly rewriting the rules of political campaigning. While every fashion move that Clinton makes is relentlessly analysed for its potential impact on voters in Iowa – from her latest hair-style to whether or not she laughs too loudly - Kirchner has gaily shrugged off accusations that she is “frivolous”.
She is storming to victory with the help of a leisurely timetable that reportedly requires at least an hour a day to be set aside for her make-up.
Since she launched her campaign in La Plata last July - with a picture of Clinton beamed onto the wall behind her - Kirchner has held only a handful of election rallies. She rarely gives interviews, does not kiss babies and has spent more time buttering up foreign leaders in Europe and the United States than grubbing for votes at home. Local analysts variously describe her campaign as “ultra-cautious” and “virtually invisible”.
In one sense, she has never needed to worry. Her husband’s presidency has been economically successful, with unemployment and poverty markedly reduced. Argentina’s economy has grown by 8% a year for the past five years, faster than those of much of the western world.
Although Argentina still owes billions and is facing growing inflationary pressures, most voters seem to believe that the president’s wife will keep the country afloat.
Kirchner’s nearest challenger is Elisa Carrio, a temperamental former congresswoman, who had to interrupt her campaign last month to face slander charges (she was acquitted).
Carrio, 50, has been plagued by internal bickering in her opposition coalition and, an obese chain-smoker, is the antithesis of Kirchner’s Evita-like glamour.
In one recent poll, Carrio had 14.9% of the vote, nearly 30 points behind Kirchner but ahead of Roberto Lavagna, a former economics minister who has proved a glum and leaden candidate. There are 11 other no-hoper candidates, reflecting Nestor Kirchner’s success in dividing the opposition.
Tough economic choices may lie ahead, and the loyalty of the Peronist “shirtless ones” could be sorely tested if the Kirchners lose their grip on inflation. For now, though, “Cristina” is showing that a little lipstick goes a long way in dazzling the masses.