So he, at least, is confident that his successor will not be Mr Menem.
But Mr Menem would attract outright opposition from Mr Duhalde, and from half the country.
Mr Menem says he would pay Argentina's debt in full (though stretching out its term).
The justice minister, Horacio Rosatti, has suggested that the court declare Mr Menem's pardons unconstitutional.
Packing the court is an Argentine tradition: the departing justices were cronies of Mr Menem.
When Carlson was keen on the nation, it was on a free-market binge under Carlos Menem.
He can take heart from Argentines' rejection of the old guard, personified by Mr Menem.
His successor, Carlos Menem, a Peronist, would carry out the free-market reforms he had eschewed.
Just last week, Mr Menem was among the first to try to visit him in hospital.
Conventional wisdom in Argentina has it that Mr Menem caused the state to disappear.
It was Domingo Cavallo, President Carlos Menem's economy minister of 1991-96, who brought in convertibility.
The Peronist opposition, which has a majority in the Senate, is rallying round Mr Menem.
ECONOMIST: Cavallo struggles to get a grip on Argentina��s economy
In 1989, President Carlos Menem renounced the use of force in pursuing Argentina's claim.
Some had suspicions that the Menem government, itself, assisted in the undermining of the investigation.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Making sense of Argentina's frenzied policy
In normal circumstances, Mr Menem's woes might be expected to benefit Mr de la Rua.
Polls have made Mr Menem a frontrunner, though with less than 20% of the vote.
Carlos Menem, president for a decade until 1999, is under house arrest, on corruption charges.
There is plenty for Mr Cardoso and Mr Menem, above all, to sort out.
For now, power has ebbed away from Mr Menem, but he has no obvious successor.
After a decade of President Carlos Menem's brash ostentation, Mr de la Rua's greyness appeals.
ECONOMIST: Argentina’s Mr Boring plods to victory by default | The
The opposition had threatened to impeach the court were it to allow Mr Menem's candidacy.
ECONOMIST: Menem forswears a third term, for 1999 anyway | The
Mr Menem, whose political astuteness is unquestioned, would now appear to have two options.
ECONOMIST: Menem forswears a third term, for 1999 anyway | The
Nor will it, while that might open the way for Mr Menem to try again.
That failure owed everything to the bitter feud between Mr Menem and Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's incumbent president.
Mr Menem's piqued daughter had banned the couple from using the family's mansion, registered in her name.
Menem beat him with 23% of the votes, but withdrew from sure defeat before the second round.
FORBES: The (Argentine) King is Dead, Will the Queen Survive?
Mr Menem's bold reply was to propose a national referendum, and one that would be legally binding.
Like that of Argentina's Carlos Menem, Mr Fujimori's reform drive has faltered in the president's second term.
The Argentinians included a transitory clause in their new constitution to impede Carlos Menem from running again.
That gave him victory by default after Carlos Menem, another former president, withdrew from a run-off ballot.
应用推荐