Socialists: Big Losers in German Vote
With conservative parties winning elections across Europe, it seems now only a question of time until our friends in the UK replace Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a more conservative leader. German voters just returned Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party to power, handing potential coalition partner, the “classical liberal” Free Democrats,” nearly 15 percent of the votes, the party’s best showing ever.” She’ll thus be able to ditch her grand coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), who, with “only 23.5 percent of the votes,” suffered their worst performance since World War II.”
While the SPD saw its support plummet, the far-left Left party saw a surge in its support, capturing 12% of the vote and securing it as many as 80 seats in the Bundestag. That party favors “return to East German socialism” and did particularly well in the east German state of Brandenburg and in the “western German state of Saarland,” home to the party’s charismatic leader Oskar Lafontaine.
With the possible exception of the UK and Spain, now every major European country has a government significantly to the right of our own. What a change a year makes.
UPDATE: Just checked the election returns from Germany’s last national election in 2005. Seems Mrs Merkel’s CDU/CSU coalition actually captured a slightly smaller share of the vote today than it did four years ago. The real increase was the FDP, increasing its percentage by about 50%. Note especially that the gains by the Left and Green parties do not alone account for the percentage lost by SPD. It seems those voters “defected from the left to the German most “committed to open markets and free competition“.
A sign that the ideas of freedom and smaller government seem to be resonating in Germany.
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In response to your hopes that the UK will replace Labour, don’t worry. My friends in the Land of Eng are all very confident that this mistake will be gotten rid of.
Comment by Charon — September 27, 2009 @ 5:20 pm - September 27, 2009
Conservatives are now put in the position of holding up France as an example of better governance!
It seems God loves irony.
Comment by American Elephant — September 27, 2009 @ 5:40 pm - September 27, 2009
“every major European country has a government significantly to the right of our own.”
Not hardly. The German CDU/CSU, and British Tories, for instance, seem to me to map out as pretty liberal on the American political spectrum, probably roughly like the Democratic Party.
Or would you like to argue that Merkel, with her new coalition, will now dismantle the German universal health care system, just to take one example? Maybe she will privatize the pension system?
Comment by Tano — September 27, 2009 @ 5:56 pm - September 27, 2009
Oh, give me a beak, Tano, I’ve lived in Germany and in France. Let me assure you the CDU/CSU and the FDP are significantly to the right of the Obama Democrats.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 27, 2009 @ 6:05 pm - September 27, 2009
On the basis of what policies, Dan?
Surely you will agree with me that on social safety net issues, Merkel, and Cameron, are at least as lefty as the Democratic Party! If you dont agree, then please explain.
Comment by Tano — September 27, 2009 @ 6:10 pm - September 27, 2009
Tano, please note I said Obama’s Democrats. I would likely not have said the same in the 1990s as many European conservatives are a lot like Bill Clinton Democrats.
And I really don’t feel the need to explain myself when you’re not backing up your statements with facts, instead relying on a left-wing talking point I’ve been hearing since I lived in Europe. Just google around and you’ll find that Mrs. Merkel is interested in privatization. Indeed, she talked about deregulation in 2005, but was prevented from doing so by the nature of the coalition government she formed when her party did not do well enough to form a coalition with the Free Democrats.
It is really the height of presumption for you to ask me to explain my points when you don’t back up your charges.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 27, 2009 @ 6:19 pm - September 27, 2009
“many European conservatives are a lot like Bill Clinton Democrats.”
Hah. Now this is interesting. You almost are agreeing with me. The differences come down to you thinking that Obama is somehow significantly lefty relative to Clinton.
Funny, but most everyone in the Democratic party seems to disagree with you (unless you think there is a big difference between Bill and Hill). Hillary was very much seen as the real liberal by her followers, with Obama as the pragmatist rather than the ideologue (hell, he even praised Reagan, they used to remind us constantly).
So what is it about Obama that makes you think him more liberal? How is his health care plan more liberal – seems to me that with his insistence on budget neutrality, he is less “liberal” than Bill was. Or are there some other issues you see some big differnce?
And of course, Obamacare, in any of its alternative flavors, is not anywhere close to being as “liberal’ as the health care systems supported by Merkel and Cameron – or any other Euroconservative. So what are you talking about?
Oh, and I have lived in both Germany and France myself, though I admit it was quite a while ago. I have family in both and follow their politics, so you dont have a trump card there.
Comment by Tano — September 27, 2009 @ 6:34 pm - September 27, 2009
Tardo,
I’m not familiar with Germanys health care system. (Indeed, I cant even IMAGINE how anyone could possibly trust their health with the government that once herded Jews into gas chambers for their “health.”) But I would not be surprised at all if Merkel increases privatization in the German system. Its what ALL of Europe and Canada have been doing for years.
Because socialized medicine is a FAILURE everywhere it has been tried.
Comment by American Elephant — September 27, 2009 @ 6:38 pm - September 27, 2009
Tano, your comment here just shows the folly of trying to engage you. By Bill Clinton Democrat, I refer to the full record of his Administration now that it’s complete.
Just because Obama praised Reagan doesn’t make him a pragmatist, it makes him a smart politician. Just because Hillary was seen as more liberal doesn’t mean she was. Obama, in fact, had a far more liberal voting record than did she. And anyway, I was talking about Bill, not Hillary, Clinton.
Contrast how the male Clinton compromised with a Republican Congress and balanced the budget with Obama’s forecast of budgets dwarfing the red ink of previous years.
So, yes, Obama is far to the of Bill Clinton. And did you even read what I said in my previous comment about Merkel wanting to deregulate. You pick and choose the points you want to address rather than consider my points as a whole. You don’t want to debate, you want to bait.
Remember the point of the post with which you quibble is based on contemporary politics. The Germans have a government that wants to deregulate and privatize, we have a government that wants to boost the size of the state.
Address that issue and don’t tell me I’m agreeing with you, but I’m doing anything but.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 27, 2009 @ 6:43 pm - September 27, 2009
Dan,
Liberals, especially of the Obama type, are pragamatists far more than being ideologues. As you know, the first wave of deregulation was started by a Democrat, even though it was much further advanced by the right.
The right advocates deregulation as an article of faith. Liberals understand that there is an appropriate level of regulation necessary for the efficient working of markets, and that in any particular sector, at any particular time, the appropriate thing to do might be to increase regulation, or to decrease it, or to leave it alone. Thats a big differnce from the right.
So claiming that Merkel is for deregulation does not necessarily put her in proximity to the American right on the political spectrum. It might be the type of regulations that Obama-Clinton democrats might support.
“The Germans have a government that wants to deregulate and privatize”
What are they going to privatize?
“we have a government that wants to boost the size of the state.”
I wouldn’t say that – we have a government that is not ideologically opposed to the state stepping in, temporarily, to protect the economy from melting down.
Comment by Tano — September 27, 2009 @ 7:06 pm - September 27, 2009
#10: “‘we have a government that wants to boost the size of the state.’
I wouldn’t say that – we have a government that is not ideologically opposed to the state stepping in, temporarily, to protect the economy from melting down.”
Of course you would say that, Tano. And that’s why instead of calling you a “liberal Democrat with a reasonable contrary opinion,” we would call you “a weak-minded, Orwellian, propaganda-spewing Obamabot.”
Comment by Sean A — September 27, 2009 @ 7:22 pm - September 27, 2009
Tano, to call Obama a pragmatist is to rely on his campaign rhetoric as a source of information and ignore his voting record in the Senate and his actions as President.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 27, 2009 @ 7:24 pm - September 27, 2009
It was either this for Andrea Merkel or becoming Conan O’ Brien’s replacement host.
Comment by Ashpenaz — September 27, 2009 @ 8:49 pm - September 27, 2009
It’s funny, even when the liberal socialists lose their American trolls say they won. Even as Obama bungles his way along, his toadies say “hey everything is great, no problem…..”
Someone’s in for a huge awakening come 2010.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — September 27, 2009 @ 9:49 pm - September 27, 2009
That is awesome!
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 27, 2009 @ 10:35 pm - September 27, 2009
Hell yeah. The liberals fight tooth and nail to fool everyone into thinking that they aren’t the radical leftists they truly are. That’s why they have to pretend to be “centrist” to get anywhere.
If you actually ran on what you believe and how you govern, you wouldn’t exist outside of humor articles.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — September 27, 2009 @ 10:39 pm - September 27, 2009
P.S. After the UK… the U.S. will be next, in 2010 and 2012. Show me a person with good sense and I’ll show you someone who instinctively hates socialism. Obama is overreaching and in over his head. The American people will find their good sense. And one of the Democrats’ key voter-fraud arms has just been taken down.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 27, 2009 @ 10:39 pm - September 27, 2009
It’s also interesting that of the G-8, Obama is the most liberal and most America hating.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — September 27, 2009 @ 10:40 pm - September 27, 2009
Down, but not out. Plus there’s still the SEIU and other unions who can move voters from one state to the other. Then there’s the felons, illegals and folks without ID who’ll most likely be given a cleared path to the voting booths. I’d bet a $787 billion porkulus bill on it (I don’t have money of my own to wager).
Comment by ThatGayConservative — September 27, 2009 @ 11:42 pm - September 27, 2009
Unfortunately, Portugal has again voted Socialist.
The endless and pointless debates with Tano really are getting boring. What point does he/she have to make that he/she hasn’t made; and what’s the point of refuting what he/she says? Let’s get on with more enlightening conversation.
Comment by Man — September 28, 2009 @ 12:06 am - September 28, 2009
Although Mrs. Merkel supports greater free enterprise and reduced taxes, we shouldn’t assume she is automatically a friend of the US and count on Germany’s support on important international issues. Because Germany imports most of its natural gas from Russia, she has dangerously tilted toward Russia. She took Russia’s position re Georgia and Ukraine among other issues. Mr. Obama’s and Mrs. Clinton’s foreign policy is in a shambles.
Comment by Man — September 28, 2009 @ 12:17 am - September 28, 2009
Ah, but thats not how it works.
The Democrats’ vote fraud is much simpler than that. They dont need to move voters around, it is enough to have phony vote registrations. ACORN registers thousands of ficticious voters and when the election is close, Democrat precincts miraculously “find” thousands of votes, that appeared out of nowhere when no one was looking.
Its how they’ve done it twice in Washington State, and how Al Franken stole that election.
Comment by American Elephant — September 28, 2009 @ 2:33 am - September 28, 2009
iIn #5 Tano says
Wow! If you don’t know how to unscramble eggs, you are therefor addicted to scrambled eggs.
I love the term:”social safety net issues.” Apparently, if a country has a few social safety net programs in place, any person who succeeds to leadership of said country is automatically a lefty because having to administer a lefty installed program makes them proponents of a vast array of “social safety net” programs yet to be hatched. I can see Merkel sitting down to create a social safety net program for Bavarians who can’t afford to get drunk daily during Octoberfest.
Conservative leadership in Germany, France, England, etc. are forced to deal with containing the pulsating bloat of rampant social safety net liberal mandates. The fact that their countries are to the left of where the Democrats are pushing the United States does not make the conservative leaders to the left of Obama and his social safety net gang of plotters.
Comment by heliotrope — September 28, 2009 @ 10:42 am - September 28, 2009
#10 Tano says
Sorry, Tano, when you say the right advocates deregulation as an article of faith, you make no sense. The entire concept of law and order is a recognition of the necessity of regulation.
The right opposes micro management of the private sector through federal regulation.
What amuses me most is your goofy statement that “Liberals understand that there is an appropriate level of regulation necessary for the efficient working of markets, and that in any particular sector, at any particular time, the appropriate thing to do might be to increase regulation, or to decrease it, or to leave it alone.”
All those Czars the Obamessiah has unleashed on the bureaucracy are not out looking for ways to decrease regulation. They are in charge of insinuating big government into every nook and cranny of everyday life.
Just for grins, what is the last effort any liberal took to decrease regulation?
Comment by heliotrope — September 28, 2009 @ 11:08 am - September 28, 2009
Tano is absolutely correct.
The CDU / CSU are about as “conservative” as the Democrats…
You probably don’t know Germany as well as you think you do.
Comment by Kamikapse — September 28, 2009 @ 6:55 pm - September 28, 2009
Tano you rely on second hand information? You funny!
I have been living and working in Germany since 1994 after I ETS’d from the Army.
The FDP can be compared to the Libertarian party but without all the fruitcakes. They demand less government and more self choice. The want taxes lowered on busineses so that they have a larger hiring power. They also demand lower taxes on the middle and lower class so that they have a stronger buying power. They want to do away with useless welfare programs that have done nothing except force people to stay on the system or starve.
The CDU/CSU are middle of the road. They support the above but have been forced to comprimise over the last 4 years because of blackmail tactics of the SPD. The CDU/CSU now have the chance to shine. Under Angie they will.
What do I base my FACTS on? Simple I am a card carrying member of the FDP. One of the few foreign members of the party. I am not allowed to vote in any election except for the foreign city council of the city where I live. Of whice I was a member for almost 10 years. the City of Erlangen and now Leichlingen.
Fun stuff those untwisted facts aren’t they. You like to dress things up. Germany is my turf. You want to try and debunk this post you are welcome to it. But I will come back with facts.
The bottom line is that Europe is being over run with foreigners and quickly losing its identity. We are tired of it. We are tired of being called racists by people like you. We are tired of being made fun of by people like you. Arrogant people who can’t tell the difference between a pear and an orange because you will study both and decide that they are both because there is no absolute.
Westerwelle has been heard to say that he hopes Obama comes back to Germany to sell his “spend your way out of recession” bullshit. So that he can flip Urkel the bird.
Comment by Mulch — September 29, 2009 @ 8:34 am - September 29, 2009
Mulch, welcome!
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 29, 2009 @ 10:14 am - September 29, 2009
German stock market soars on the news:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/163867-germany-etf-soars-on-election-news?source=article_lb_articles
(The article talks about a Germany ETF soaring, but that ETF only tracks an index of 50 German stocks.)
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 29, 2009 @ 11:38 am - September 29, 2009
[...] deserves greater prominence on this blog. Such was my remark to a critic’s point that during the 2008 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination: Hillary was very much seen as the real liberal by her followers, with Obama as the pragmatist [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » So, you think Obama’s a pragmatist? — September 29, 2009 @ 5:30 pm - September 29, 2009