President Santos has tried all the tricks in the book to make this election about war and peace.

He, his friends in the media, and virtually the entire political class, have told us to vote for the incumbent’s re-election or to face all out war with the FARC.

Mr Santos’ thesis is that only he is capable of delivering peace accords with the Marxist guerrillas; that each of the other four candidates would take Colombians “back to war”.

But peace is not the preserve of Juan Manuel. Whoever occupies the Casa de Nariño has a constitutional duty to pursue an end to the war.

Sure, but the constitution’s there to be violated or amended or ignored, I hear you lament.

Ok, how about the public declarations of support for the peace dialogues from Clara Lopez, Marta Lucia Ramirez, and Enrique Peñalosa? Each has promised not pull to the plug on the Havana talks.

The only candidate who seems content to end the discussion is the Uribista, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga.

So, if you want peace you can choose from four candidates. Not the one.

It is understandable why Santos wants to create an Orwellian false dichotomy. If you offer people peace or war, well they’ll only go one way, surely.

After a gruelling four years in power, Santos’ presidency has become mired in controversy and scandal.

Colombia is known as a monumentally difficult country to run. Money, historical and familial power struggles, rank-corruption and clientelism are just a few of the daily problems a president must try to combat. Not to mention the war. En fin, four years in the presidential bunker must seem like an eternity.

It is almost inevitable that after his first period in office a president has become compromised; twisted and distorted by the ravages of time.

Months ago, Santos’ advisers must have sat down with the president and asked what he wanted to include in his manifesto for the next four years.

But, what honestly can you offer a nation who has seen your justice, education and health reforms crash and burn? What can you offer voters sick of hearing that over 4 billion dollars are wasted each year in corruption? What can you promise a public who have seen you abandon the farmers who toil day in and day out to produce the coffee, potatoes, rice, and beans on which Colombians are reliant?

I’m not suggesting Santos has been a president without merit; inflation is low, GDP growth is high, and unemployment is down. But the president’s macro-economic successes have not translated to pesos in the pockets of the man on the Antioqueño omnibus. Frankly, Colombians do not feel as though they are sharing in the proceeds of growth.

Perhaps this is the first election in which Bill Clinton has been proven wrong and that it is NOT the economy stupid?

So Santos is left with the only thing he has in the armoury – peace.

Peace is the get out of jail card for Santos. But peace is not the only concern, it is not even the major concern of the vast majority of Colombians. Peace yes, but what else?

In Sunday’s first round elections, Colombians can both vote for peace and someone other than Santos. Will they?