Why Svejnar should run

The only candidate who can possibly prevent Miloš Zeman from becoming the next Czech president is Jan Švejnar. Jan Fischer is still leading in the polls, but once the televised debates begin, Zeman will walk all over him. Fischer is the candidate for everybody and nobody; he'll speak eloquently about everything under the sun between now and election day, but voters won't learn anything specific about what he thinks or would do in office. Švejnar is better, if only slightly. He's wishy-washy, and many of his economic insights are banal and often miss the big picture of what is happening in the world. Švejnar's connections to one interest group (ČSOB-Bakala-Pokorný) also raise concerns. But if Zeman is the obvious "Russian" candidate for president, Švejnar is the obvious "Euro-American" one. And in these elections, the single biggest issue is East or West. So make your choice, Gazprom or ČSOB.