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Left-winger wins Austrian presidential vote

33 Comments
By GEORGE JAHN

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33 Comments
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Austrians took one look at what happened in the US where an ignorant, bigoted, xenophobic, unstable buffoon and con man won and said 'no way.' Good for the Austrians.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

Disappointing news.

-9 ( +7 / -16 )

Good for Austria no right wing sillyness tough I am not sold on green parties.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Seems the recent political madness hasn't spread out of the English-speaking world. Phew.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

EU totters on. The inevitable is simply delayed.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Good for Austria and for their voters for not falling for the right wing xenophobe hysteria...

5 ( +8 / -3 )

I think ppl are reading too much into these results.

Lefts and greens all around the world have adopted populist measures they would have condemned 15 years ago so imo 'populist ideas' as we call them are still on the rise, so much so that even left/greens know they have to integrate them in their program if they want to exist at elections. (As an example labor in oz in 2016 is more populist than most euro conservative parties were say 15 years ago. And it's true for many other western democracies).

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Congrats to Austria for not falling for a xenophobic racist nightmare politician. good work.

Seems the recent political madness hasn't spread out of the English-speaking world. Phew

Remember the english speaking world has Canada's Justine Trudeau- arguably the world's most admired politician today.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Austrians took one look at what happened in the US where an ignorant, bigoted, xenophobic, unstable buffoon and con man won and said 'no way.' Good for the Austrians.

And the Italians looked at what happened in the US.....and decided they wanted some of that!

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Austrians took one look at what happened in the US where an ignorant, bigoted, xenophobic, unstable buffoon and con man won and said 'no way.' Good for the Austrians.

Something that they will greatly regret. The problem with Austria and the constant scolding they get from Brussels is more than enough to have the average Austrian throw their hands up in the air and say, "No more!" They'll learn the hardware. I feel bad for the people and the idiot racist politicians they have to deal with.

-13 ( +0 / -13 )

EU totters on. The inevitable is simply delayed. nah the EU will be around for a long while yet. UK doesn't stand a chance of free market access while the EU still exists. When or if the EU is dismantled, there wont be any UK manufacturing left that isnt taxpayer subsidised. The Brexit wet dream is just that.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Something that they will greatly regret. The problem with Austria and the constant scolding they get from Brussels is more than enough to have the average Austrian throw their hands up in the air and say, "No more!"

only they didn't. anyway, time will tell if they will regret this decision or not.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Bass4funk,Austria's capital is Vienna not Brussels.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Rana Sodhi: Bass4funk,Austria's capital is Vienna not Brussels.

The EU can't scold Austria?

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

I feel bad for the people and the idiot racist politicians they have to deal with.

Do pay attention, b4f.

They just voted not to deal with idiot racist politicians.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Austria. Popn 8.7M people. Less than New Jersey, more than Virginia.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

Austria. Popn 8.7M people. Less than New Jersey, more than Virginia.

Point?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Austria. Popn 8.7M people. Less than New Jersey, more than Virginia.

Tiny indeed. Only about four times more than Trump lost the popular vote by.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

lucabrasi: Tiny indeed. Only about four times more than Trump lost the popular vote by.

You forgot to subtract the estimated 3M non-citizens voting illegally, that gives Trump a net +200K.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

Yes it is good but I do not like the racist islamaphobic right but I do not like the femoliberal abortionist left either.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Disappointing news.

Not really. Neither of the two mainstream politicians were elected, so the election was still a kick in the pants for 'more of the same'. That said, the EU does tend to favour the German-speaking world, so I would expect Austrians to remain broadly pro-EU.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You forgot to subtract the estimated 3M non-citizens voting illegally

Estimated (but not substantiated) by a bunch of partial academics.

Back on topic, Austria voted against far right populism. Gut gemacht!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

SenseNotSoCommon: Point?

It was a few percentage points difference, in a tiny country. Not a tide of leftist populism sweeping the European Union into a new age.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Funk,

I feel bad for the people and the idiot racist politicians they have to deal with

Oh they dealt with him alright, by not electing him. He's accepted it graciously and lives to fight another day of course.

Stat,

You forgot to subtract the estimated 3M non-citizens voting illegally, that gives Trump a net +200K

There you go again repeating Trump's completely unsubstantiated, evidence-free alt right conspiracy theory propaganda nonsense, ad nauseum.

Not a tide of leftist populism

Obviously, no one is suggesting anything of the sort. Rather, this was an electorate rejecting a tide of rightist populism.

I have no idea why you're banging on about Austria's size.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

AP: ... a victory welcomed by moderate politicians across Europe as a blow against the populist forces looking to weaken the European Union. ... “What happens here today has relevance for all of Europe,” Van der Bellen said he cast his ballot ... Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who heads Germany’s center-left Social Democrats, told the Bild newspaper that “a load has been taken off the mind of all of Europe.” ...

On the other hand, had it gone the other way I guess it would have elicited the drums of Mordor at the gates or something.

@AP

'Van der Bellen said -as- he cast his ballot'

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Rightist trash spitting bigotry defeated in an election.

How very civilised.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Sharing the same homeland as the Godfather of all right-wingers, Adolf Hitler, there are still enough sensible Austrians who reject turning the clock back and embracing any modern, milder variant of his bankrupt ideology. Let's hope this is the start of a new trend to roll back the vicious politics of the right that have fooled too many people since the abortive demise of fascism in 1945.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

No right-wing neo-nazi?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It was a few percentage points difference, in a tiny country.

Contrasted with the popular vote in your own?

(minus the three million aliens from Uranus who voted for Hillary)

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Adolf Hitler was left-wing, not right-wing!

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Austria's capital is Vienna not Brussels.

They're part of the EU, right? So as I said before, as long as the people have to rely on Brussels telling them what to do, the country will continue its downward spiral.

Oh they dealt with him alright, by not electing him. He's accepted it graciously and lives to fight another day of course.

One can only hope!

Adolf Hitler was left-wing, not right-wing!

So very, very true.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Neo-Nazism though is far right-wing:

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

Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive the far-right-wing tenets of Nazism.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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