Austria Rejects Far Right Trumpism

[bobabode]

"BERLIN – The center-left candidate handily defeated his far-right challenger in Austria’s presidential election on Sunday, boosting the political establishment in Europe as it sought to contain the fallout of Donald Trump’s victory in the United States and thwart the spread of nationalism.
The far-right Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer conceded defeat on his Facebook page less than 30 minutes after polls closed and following projections showing a surprisingly strong lead for Alexander Van der Bellen. The 72-year-old statesman and former Green Party politician was winning by 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted.
The result was an unexpectedly clear victory for Austria’s beleaguered political establishment — one suggesting the aggressive tactics and Trump-style campaign deployed by the Austrian far-right may have hurt more than they helped.
Sunday’s election, in fact, was a rerun of one in May in which Hofer lost by 31,000 votes, a result he successfully contested. His defeat on Sunday by a far larger margin, observers said, may suggest European voters’ unease with the comparisons of their politicians to Trump. It also seemed to rob the momentum from far-right leaders in France and the Netherlands who have called Trump’s victory part of a new “world order” that they were hoping to join in elections next year." WaPo

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.caa593c4ecc9

Sehr gut.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Sehr gut.

Bestimmt (certainly).

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Bestimmt (certainly).

Weihnachten kam früh für das österreichische Volk.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Weihnachten kam früh für das österreichische Volk.

Nice folks and awesome country. Vienna is probably my favorite of the German-speaking cities (Munich's a close second) and the skiing, scenery and food in Tyrol is great.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Nice folks and awesome country. Vienna is probably my favorite of the German-speaking cities (Munich's a close second) and the skiing, scenery and food in Tyrol is great.

Pop's outfit, 10th AD/3rd Army ended their tour in the Werdenfelser Land. We have a photo of him up on the Zugspitz with his fellow soldiers drinking scnapps.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Pop's outfit, 10th AD/3rd Army ended their tour in the Werdenfelser Land. We have a photo of him up on the Zugspitz with his fellow soldiers drinking scnapps.

That must have been one hell of a respite after fighting their way across Europe - a very beautiful area. I had a number of projects in Garmisch and I'd often schedule my jobsite meetings so they'd end in time for a half day of skiing in the afternoon followed by a nice Weissbier at the Osterfeldkopf.

[Tom Joad]

Jesus Fucking Christ.

The corporate media can't even report the results of a European election without taking a cheap shot at Trump.

Trump is not "far right".

He's the most liberal Republican President since Eisenhower.

[merrylander]

With any luck maybe all the rest of these far righties will meet a similar fate. So glad that Austria went center left.

[HarmanKardon]

Rob, I fear that the "European populism movement", as I call it, is something that can't be stopped anymore. Next issue is Italy, Renzi will resign today.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by HarmanKardon

Rob, I fear that the "European populism movement", as I call it, is something that can't be stopped anymore. Next issue is Italy, Renzi will resign today.

I've been doing a little research and it appears that this wasn't the great rejection of the populism movement that it's being made out to be. True they pulled a couple of points lower this time around than they did a few months ago, but overall the trend seems to be going their way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Party_of_Austria

In the 1999 legislative election the FPÖ won 26.9% of the vote, its best-ever result in a nationwide election,

So in 1999 27% was a record for this "FPO". But now they are getting mid to upper 40's. That's an improvement of about 20 percentage points. Sounds like the Barbarians are at the gates and the people inside are celebrating because the battering ram hasn't quite broken through just yet.