The Emergence of the Legitimate Pro Syrians (LPS)

Before you start reading, I want you to take a thorough look at the web-ranking graph above. Look at what is happening in March. What do you see?

Assafir newspaper, for those of you who don't know, speaks for the Pro-Syrians in Lebanon; its editor in chief, Talal Salman, a sexagenarian, is a pro-Syrian ideologue. He's a proud Arabist that believes firmly in the common destiny of Lebanon and Syria, and he always sounds alarmist when it comes to 'Foreign' -read 'Western'- schemes for the region.

Assafir remains an exception. Like Fox News, It has found itself a niche. The other three news sources in the above chart are, in various degrees, anti-Syrian.

Why is Assafir gaining readership?
It's because of what I call the legitimate pro-Syrians (LPS)...

How do I define an LPS?
An LPS is a Lebanese citizen who will vote, without intimidation, without bribery, without bullying for a pro-Syria candidate in the coming election. And when I say 'pro-Syria', I mean it in the same way that I would call an Englishman 'pro-Europe'. The LPS is really convinced that being pro Syrian is good for the country, and needless to say, not all pro-Syrians are LPS.

Why are they mobilizing now?
One of the known rules of politics is that when a group has a secured majority, it doesn't mobilize aggressively.
This is now changing. When the Syrian army was forced to leave, they found themselves suddenly facing a new situation: a level playing field (still not too level yet). Their excessively inflated power is back to normal proportions, they have to compete for the voters' hearts and minds, and their opponents are numerous, vocal, determined, bitter and very angry...

Before a free and fair election next spring, we can't really tell how much of the pro Syrians are LPS; however, we do know one: Talal Salman, and if the chart above is any indication, the opposition should start taking note.