On the left, the two biggest parties recently united behind Rome's popular mayor, Walter Veltroni, who has become a sort of prime minister in the wings. On the right, Berlusconi has shed his own allies to try a third comeback on his own.
The two sides have begun preliminary talks to redo the nation's electoral law, considered by all sides flawed because it creates exactly the unstable parliamentary majority that makes Prodi's life so difficult. Many people, Berlusconi in the lead, argue that once a new electoral law is agreed on, elections should be held immediately. With Veltroni the new leader of the center-left party structure, Prodi could well be left out.
Prodi appeared unruffled by the prospect.
First, he said, any changes in the electoral law would take a long time. Plus, he said, a new law could be written to take effect after a certain waiting period, leaving him if not his full five years, something close to it, before returning to his teaching job.
"It could be a guarantee, a guarantee for an easy life," he joked as his jog neared its end.
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