PSOE's first campaign video: if insults don't win you over, nothing will

Spain's PSOE has launched its first pre-campaign video with the slogan "They insult us because we are the government of the people who put those at the top in their place". It is a message that turns political wear and tear into a mobilisation argument and appeals to the useful left-wing vote.

The PSOE has premiered its first pre-campaign video. In it, the party states that "They insult us because we are the government of the people who put those at the top in their place". The piece, released on social media, opens the Socialists' electoral machinery with a message that says nothing about governance or concrete proposals: it speaks of identity and confrontation.

## A slogan that turns insults into a badge of honour

The chosen phrase is no accident. "They insult us because we are the government of the people" reverses the meaning of the political attack: what is in theory wear and tear, the PSOE presents as proof that it is delivering. It is a classic campaign move, turning criticism into fuel for its own voters.

The "putting those at the top in their place" appeals directly to an electoral base that wants to see confrontation with the powerful. There are no governance figures, no concrete promises, no term review. Just an emotional framework: us versus them.

## First video, first signal of strategy

The fact that this is the first pre-campaign video matters. It sets the tone for what is to come. The PSOE chooses to start out talking about insults and "those at the top", not about the economy, healthcare or jobs. It is a strategic decision: mobilise rather than persuade.

In a context of a fragmented left-wing vote, the message seeks to remind voters that the PSOE is the only party in government and therefore the only one that can "put in their place" certain people. The piece is not designed to win over undecided voters, but to activate those who already sympathise.

## What the video does not say

The message contains no reference to economic measures, budgets or concrete policies. The PSOE does not mention unemployment, inflation or growth figures. Nor does it name any adversary. The enemy is abstract: "those at the top".

That vagueness is deliberate. It allows each voter to fill the gap with their own adversary. And it avoids entering territory where the government has to account for itself. The campaign thus begins on the ground of emotions.