Italian politics: Another ”decent onto the field”?

And speaking of Italian politics, did we just watch another ”decent onto the field”, just like when Berlusconi entered politics in 1994? From a newsletter The Economist just sent me:

And so, to the front of the grid of challengers roared Mr Montezemolo. In his last big speech as president of Confindustria, the Italian employers' association, the elegant and telegenic Mr Montezemolo appeared to call on Italians to ditch Mr Prodi's shaky old two-wheeler [Prodi likes to ride a bike] and hitch their fortunes to a Formula One thoroughbred [Montezemolo turned Ferrari around].

In what Corriere della Sera on May 25th called a “transparent manifesto”, he outlined a vision of what Italy could be by 2015 if it accepted the liberal reforms he proposed: a meritocracy with a flexible labour market and a sustainable welfare system; a country run by a more efficient, but smaller, government; a nation in which everyone paid taxes, but at a lower rate than now.

He doesn’t have the TV-channels, but as we all know, anything can happen in Italian politics... You will hear of Montezemolo again.