No clear favorite

István Lékó expressed in Euro this week what many people have been thinking: It was probably Zdeněk Bakala who chose Zdeněk Tůma as TOP 09's candidate for Prague mayor. Perhaps it's no coincidence that Bakala's HN said today that Tůma is the "clear favorite." What, exactly, makes him the clear favorite? Is it reliable, hard data that show unequivocally that TOP 09 will win the elections and successfully form a majority coalition at Prague city hall? Certainly not. So is it somehow the swelling of emotion that gives Tůma a moral right to the seat, even if TOP's rivals do everything to see that he doesn't get it? Tůma is no doubt a strong, attractive candidate, but referring to him at this point as a "clear favorite" is nothing more than hack propaganda. The political reality is that Tůma probably has a slightly greater chance today of becoming mayor than he does of becoming just a regular city councilor. [Czech Republic magazine]