Mircea Geoană has fallen below the 20 percent threshold, according to political sources from PNL, following research conducted on potential presidential candidates.
Such information should be taken with a grain of salt as the liberals want to create a winning profile for Nicolae Ciucă, but by correlating the information with other data, it is noted that the NATO Deputy Secretary General has started to lose ground.
He is still a strong favorite to reach the second round of the elections, but his political situation is increasingly fragile due to the lack of a supporting party and because of the sterile manner in which he conducts his electoral campaign.
The former PSD leader is trying to position himself in the public consciousness as an innovative leader, with a focus on the future, a guarantor of Romania's security and its modernization.
However, there are too many voters who have observed Mircea Geoană's political actions, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, ambassador, PSD president, and presidential candidate.
In none of these positions has Mircea Geoană succeeded in asserting himself or in shaping himself as a strong personality, one with the inner strength to impose himself and change Romania's destiny.
He has always been perceived by the electorate as a "good guy," well-intentioned, but who has surrounded himself with dubious individuals who have tried to take advantage of the good-natured man.
His associations with Sorin Ovidu Vântu, a former media magnate imprisoned for corruption, an association that cost him the election victory, as well as with Marian Vanghelie, former mayor of Sector 5, investigated for acts of corruption, are well-known.
Mircea Geoană's entire communication campaign seeks to avoid an honest discussion about the NATO official's past, his connections with Russia, how he was appointed to the position within the North Atlantic alliance, in what international political context, or how much support he has from the USA, beyond diplomatic statements.
Mircea Geoană goes from one blogger to another, targeting "influencers" with impact on social networks, who are not very familiar with his political past, do not want to disturb him, and do not understand the lights and shadows of his career, in order to obtain maximum exposure in exchange for as few uncomfortable questions as possible.
Such a campaign is now running at the end of July and the beginning of August, during the vacation period, but from September, Mircea Geoană's campaign will enter a phase where serious discussions about his candidacy will be increasingly difficult to avoid.
In addition to these rather transactional aspects, there are also other underground ones that, in an unfavorable international context, could jeopardize Romania's interests.
Looking at the political scene now, Marcel Ciolacu is Geoană's biggest adversary. Their confrontation revolves around gaining control of the PSD, the largest party in the country.
Marcel Ciolacu does not want to run for president, but even more so, he does not want Geoană to become president. Therefore, strategically, for the leader of the PSD, Nicolae Ciucă is a negligible threat compared to the NATO official.
Indeed, things can change in one direction or another, but these days the trend is for Mircea Geoană to move away from the Cotroceni Palace. The political handicap of not being able to rely on a parliamentary political party is starting to take its toll.