News analysis: Italy's Renzi sees personal approval outpacing his own party

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's political party has regularly outdistanced its rivals as measured in approval ratings, but in recent months his party has continually trailed behind a key political entity: Renzi himself.

Despite an increasingly unified political opposition, a slow growing national economy, and the first political scandal of his 14-month-old government, the 40-year-old prime minister remains the most popular political figure in the country. So popular, in fact, that he constantly outpolls the Democratic Party (PD) he is part of and the government he leads.

Renzi's advantage over his political party and the government itself is not small, usually checking in at between six and ten percentage points.

Pollsters and expert observers say there is always a disconnect between a political leader and the entities he or she is part of, and usually only means trouble when the leader is less popular than his government or political party. But the gap between Renzi's approval levels and those of his political party and his government is unusually large.

Experts say the difference comes from various factors: Renzi's youth and dynamism, for example, or the fact that he communicates directly with the electorate using a mix of traditional and new media. Observers also point out that political parties and government are increasingly seen in a negative light, which makes it easier for a figure like Renzi to shine in comparison.

"The political landscape in Italy is changing and Renzi is among the first to recognize that," Giorgio De Rita, general secretary of Censis, a leading Italian research institute, said in an interview. "Renzi is able to appeal to people through this new context, while his political rivals, as well as political parties and the government itself, are behind."

Maria Rossi from the polling company Opinioni agreed: "It is said that the generals always use the strategies from the last war. Well, Renzi is one of the few not doing that in the political game," Rossi said in an interview.

"Renzi is an expert in making his case to the public and that makes it easy for many people to see him as a separate entity from his party or government," Rossi continued.

Social media has been a big part of Renzi's strategy dating back years. The number of followers on his Twitter account, for example, just surpassed that of comic-turned-activist Beppe Grillo, one of Renzi's main political rivals and noted for his communications acumen. With nearly 1.8 million followers, Renzi is one of the ten most followed accounts in all of Italy. Renzi is also active on other social media as well as television, a media that, because of his outgoing personality and popular way of speaking, makes it easy for him to stand out.

"These factors are what have allowed Renzi to separate himself from the context he appears in," Massimiliano Panarari, an expert on campaigning and consensus building at Rome's LUISS University, told Xinhua. "This is what allows many people to see him separately from what he does."

The fact that as many as one in ten Italians approve of Renzi personally but do not approve of his government may still seem perplexing to some, given that Renzi is a politician and his only formal public roles are as the head of government and the head of his political party. But De Rita has an easy explanation for the apparent disconnect.

"Most people see Renzi the politician," he said. "But there are others who see Renzi the communicator, and the second one might be easier to like." Endit