As per ABC news.....
Weakened Berlusconi Faces Challenger
Flagging Economy Puts Bush Ally Berlusconi at a Disadvantage As Italy Chooses a Premier
ROME Apr 8, 2006 (AP)? After a nasty election campaign, Italians are deciding this weekend whether to dump Premier Silvio Berlusconi and opt for his distinctly less flamboyant challenger.
Defeat for Berlusconi would end a five-year government that is Italy's longest-serving since World War II, and deprive President Bush of a staunch ally who has sent troops to Iraq.
If opponent Romano Prodi is slightly ahead and voters in the Sunday-Monday election are in a foul mood, they have reasons: The economy is going nowhere, jobs are scarce and the health system is in crisis.
But Italians don't seem too inspired by their choices: Berlusconi is a conservative media mogul and erstwhile cruise-ship crooner with a talent for saying outrageous things; Prodi is a center-left economics professor and former premier.
Both lead fractious coalitions of parties. Prodi's Union ranges from pro-Vatican moderates to Communists. Berlusconi's House of Freedoms coalition includes Christian Democrats, former neo-fascists and an anti-immigrant party.
Berlusconi was elected on high hopes that his knack for making money would translate into a business boom for Italy but economic growth has ground to a halt and even business leaders are turning their backs on him.
While only a faint echo of France's student protests over jobs, legions of young Italians express frustration over a work world that increasingly strings them along with short-term contracts instead of the "Perfect Job" their parents often found.
Income tax rates for many in the middle class are near 40 percent, but citizens see too little return on their tax euros. In the national health system, to cite just one example, waits for a routine mammogram or heart test can last months.
Berlusconi's critics accuse him of passing a raft of laws tailor-made to protect his business interests, and ignoring urgent issues facing the economy such as Italy's rapidly declining competitiveness, high public debt and growing job insecurity.
The premier has also been kept busy fending off prosecution over alleged corruption and conflict of interest in his media empire, which includes Italy's largest private television network, and his publishing, insurance and real-estate interests.
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All that I can add... Is this should be a fun ride. The last election Berlusconi won hands down. But, the comments spewing from his mouth as the campaigning winds down indicates - this election should provide more drama than the recent Bush/Kerry showdowns and Bush/Gore chad drama.... I say - let the counting begin!
Divertiti!
Krista
PS.... If I had to place my bet on who will win.... I hate to put it in writing, but, I think Berlusconi is going to win. There I said it.
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