Such policies center largely on subsidies for energy and food, along with strict currency controls and restrictions on foreign direct investment, and fall under a wider populist program pursued in the aftermath of Argentina’s early-2000s economic collapse by Kirchner’s late husband, former President Néstor Kirchner.

While the goal was to restore public confidence in the government, Hooper told Trend Lines on Monday that Cristina Kirchner has taken the strategy to new heights during recent months by “enormously increasing spending on social programs in order to ensure popularity ahead of the election.”

It appears to have worked. Opposition candidates had little chance of unifying against the surge of support for Kirchner, said Hooper, who notes that “the question in Argentina is always one of popular unrest or the lack thereof.”

“It’s a very paternalistic system,” she said, “one in which power flows from the presidency on down.”

As a result, in order to hold on to executive power, a president must “secure either all of the party support or all of the popular support,” added Hooper, noting that Kirchner has succeeded in achieving the latter.

Popular sympathy for Kirchner was further boosted, said Hooper, by Néstor Kirchner's death last October. “I definitely think [Cristina Kirchner] has 'played' Néstor’s death very well,” she said. “It’s macabre, but it did her a huge favor in terms of personal appeal.”

The downside of Kirchner's strategy, according to Hooper, is that overall public support can be expected to wane as the government ratchets back spending on social programs to compensate for the generous subsidies that have defined the country's economy over the past decade, and particularly the past year.

“They’re not going to be able to spend at the rate that they have over the past year, and especially the past few months,” she said, noting international observers generally agree the Argentine peso has become overvalued as a result of government outlays of cash. The high value has driven a consumer boom, with increased imports from regional neighbors like Brazil. But, added Hooper, the peso's value is likely to drop as the Argentine government cuts back on spending.

While in theory such a devaluation might be eased by the pursuit of international loans to bolster the peso, in practice Argentina still does not have access to international credit markets due to its debt default in November 2002, which followed an economic collapse that many believe was precipitated by an overreliance on foreign credit.

All of this adds up to what may be a bumpy second term for Kirchner, said Hooper, who contends that while the opposition is unlikely to present real alternatives to her policies, “they’re going to be waiting on the sidelines for when things turn sour.”

“Essentially,” she added, “the opposition's chance will come when people are ready to turn against her.”