Among the many possible answers to the question: “But how did Ellie Schlein win?” the most convincing is expressed not by words, but by images. Imagine a televised duel between the head of government and the head of the opposition. Who would be most effective against Georgia Meloni? An old veteran, a middle-aged man, or an aspiring young deputy with a keen sense of wit?

Perhaps the people of the Italian Democratic Party (DP) did not question in these terms when they voted on February 26 to appoint their leader, but the visualization of the standoff awaiting the new party secretary certainly contributed to this unexpected outcome. Result: Ellie Schlein seems born to take on the challenge to duel Meloni.

On the one hand, he is symmetrical to her both in his age and in his energy and determination, and on the other hand, he is diametrically opposed to her in terms of cultural guidelines, political content, and reference electorate. It will be—it will be when the hour strikes—an anthology duel. This will lead to unexpected terrain and may not be as easy for the right as some would like to believe.

Italian Ocasio-Cortez?

So far, the conservative front’s attack on Ellie Schlein has been largely to portray her as a cantor of the caviar left of urban centers, even as an agent of an awakened ideology. In short, the Italian Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as many comments chanted after her election (ignoring the biographical discrepancy between the Bronx-born Puerto Rican and the Italian-Swiss