Thanks!
Robert Wrubel wrote:
> Lenin's Tomb has a comment on an article in Die Zeit
> which shows Germany's voters in a decidedly left tilt.
> Interesting in contrast to a recent claim (on this
> list, I think) that Social Democratic parties in
> Europe have generally weakened and moved to the
> center, in the style of Britain's Labor Party.
>
> (I cant read German anymore, so I have to take Lenin's
> word for it.)
>
> Note the programs below that receive strong support
> from even right-wing/free market groups:
>
> "there is a sizeable swing to the Left. Only 11% of
> voters identify themselves as being right-wing, while
> 34% of voters place themselves on the left. The votes
> from the centre splits in several different
> directions, obviously, but it's significant that the
> Left Party picks up a substantial portion of voters
> who consider themselves centrists. Further, not only
> do more voters identify themselves as being left-wing,
> but if you go to the report (or do a Babelfish
> translation of the story), you find that voters for
> right-wing parties favour the left's programme. For
> example, 68% of voters for the right-wing FDP support
> a mininum wage, while 57% support reducing the pension
> age, 82% support free childcare (slightly more than
> Linke supporters), and most oppose privatisation as
> well. All of these positions are popular with most
> voters, but their acceptance by supporters of an
> aggressively free-market party signals how broadly as
> well as deeply these ideas are held. . . "
>
> BobW
>
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