Two candidates take the main stage

Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy said Friday that he has "no intention of making cuts in social programs" if he wins the elections in November. Just one hour after Prime Minister José Rodríguez Zapatero announced the early elections date, the opposition leader gave a news conference at PP headquarters where he gave few details about his proposed platform but promised Spaniards that he would "govern from the middle" in an effort not to scare off moderate voters.

"I am going to talk about the future," Rajoy said. "Early elections are what many Spaniards have wanted for a long time. Now Spaniards will be the main actors, and the elections will be the impulse needed to get out of this situation we are in."

According to PP sources, Zapatero telephoned Rajoy earlier in the day to alert him that he was going to call early elections.

At his own news conference, the Socialist candidate Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said that he "completely shared" Zapatero's reasoning for moving the date of of the elections forward, but quickly added that he "never asked the prime minister" to call them.

The former deputy prime minister said that he would draft his party's platform in the coming months. "I am going to listen and explain- that is going to be my job." The Socialists are set to hold their political convention at the end of September to discuss proposals. Rubalcaba said his goal will be to cure the ailing economy, push down the unemployment rate, introduce democratic reforms, and strengthen equal opportunities.

The ruling party will officially kickoff its campaign on November 5. But Rubalcaba assured reporters that he and the rest of the party are ready.

"We will start out with conviction, responsibility and profound respect for the real actors of this democracy, who are Spaniards themselves," he said.

For his part, Rajoy said that he "would love" to participate in a televised debate with Rubalcaba. However, it is still too early to determine whether the candidates will have a live broadcast face-off.

While he applauded the chance to be able to prepare next year's budget if he wins the elections, Rajoy lamented that there might not be enough time to push it through Congress before December 31.

The PP candidate declined to comment on the latest Center for Sociological Studies (CIS) poll released on Wednesday, which shows that the Socialists have cut the PP's lead by three points in a voter survey.

"On May 22, there was already one poll," said Rajoy, referring to the regional and local elections in which the PP captured a vast majority of governments. "And on November 20, there will be another poll ? this time the real one."

When asked for his opinion about the CIS poll, which also gave Rubalcaba higher marks than Rajoy, the Socialist candidate said "it gives the impression that the winds are changing."