Bad news for Zeman

There is only one presidential candidate with a realistic chance of beating Miloš Zeman, and that is Jiří Drahoš. His prospects rose somewhat yesterday, thanks to the decision by Sen. Jaroslav Kubera of ODS not to run for the office. Candidates and potential candidates are roughly divided into pro-Zeman and anti-Zeman, and Kubera was the only one in the pro-Zeman camp who had any chance whatsoever of eking past Drahoš into the second round. This would have assured Zeman's reelection. The other leading pro-Zeman candidates - Pavel Fischer, Jiří Hynek - would be a pushover for Zeman in the second round but don't have a ghost of a chance of defeating Drahoš to get there. To sleep comfortably, Zeman will need an ABD - anybody but Drahoš - in the second round. If he can't convince Kubera to change his mind, Zeman's main hope now is that Fischer and Hynek will take enough votes away from Drahoš to push Michal Horáček into the final round.