We have a winner

So the presidential elections are over, thank goodness. Cavaco came a close second to the abstention block, a reasonable achievement in itself.

The high point of the night was Manuel Alegre routing Mario Soares and the PS establishment - congratulations to him. What is he going to do now? Would he make a good Culture or Education Minister? Possibly not, but with 1.1 million supporters, Socrates would be pushed to turn him down if he asked for a cabinet post.

The low point had to be shared by Jose Socrates and the media. If Socrates didn't know that Alegre was already speaking live, his team is more incompetent than anybody imagined. To start a speech just after Alegre is an obvious dirty trick. To add insult to injury, all TV channels cut to Socrates, leaving Alegre recording for later transmission. Hold on a minute! Which one was a candidate? Socrates was only speaking as chairman of the Socialist Party.

What were the news directors thinking? Ah! Of course! They know which side their bread is buttered. The PS chairman just happens to be Prime Minister, emphasized by the PM's office later issuing an apology. Has Socrates no idea of protocol? As for decency and ethics, there's no point even asking - he has none.

The comedy prize goes to Garcia Pereira for achieving fewer votes than either spoiled ballots or abstentions. As he said, it must have been due to the media failing to cover his campaign....

Just one doubt remains: What am I going to write about from now on.