Euro-lover Jilted!

Maybe it was the photo of the happy de facto couple (see yesterday's post). Or maybe, as he noted in Rome yesterday, Monti wants a shot at directing traffic himself, rather than letting Bersani have all the fun. Whatever the reason, it looks like it's all off between Monti and the center-left: "With this left-wing coalition I don't have and never will have anything in common," he huffily declared.

But Mario, can this really be the end, after all our hopes and dreams? Of course not. These daily games of push-and-pull are, as I've said, the vital center of this campaign, as Monti and Vendola jockey for position in the new government. Right now Vendola may be a few lengths ahead--that is the real point of Monti's remarks. But whether Bersani can afford to let him walk away depends on whom the voters in Lombardy and Sicily choose to send to the Senate, and we won't know that for a few days more.

So Mario, don't throw out those long-stemmed roses--your courting days may not be over yet.