Posted on 03/09/2008 6:17:11 PM PDT by EagleUSA
MADRID, Spain - Spain's Socialist prime minister won re-election Sunday, as voters dismissed worries about a slumping economy, immigration and resurgent Basque militants to hand him a second term.
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The results were a clear endorsement of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's record, which includes reforms such as legalizing gay marriage and granting on-demand divorce, once thought unthinkable in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.
Zapatero also withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq and launched a drive to cede more power to Spain's semiautonomous regions.
"The Spanish people have spoken clearly and decided to start a new era," Zapatero told euphoric supporters outside the party's headquarters in Madrid. "I will govern with a firm but open hand."
With 92 percent of the vote counted, Zapatero's Socialist party had 43.8 percent compared to 40.1 percent for the conservative Popular Party, according to the Interior Ministry.
Opposition conservatives conceded defeat, but took solace in the fact that they picked up more parliamentary seats than the Socialists. Both parties gained seats at the expense of smaller leftist and regional groups.
While Zapatero's party picked up seats in the lower house, it fell short of a majority and will have to form an alliance with smaller regional parties to govern.
For Mariano Rajoy, Zapatero's conservative rival both in Sunday's vote and in the 2004 election, his second consecutive defeat will likely increase pressure on him to step down as party chief.
Sunday's vote came two days after the killing of Socialist politician Isaias Carrasco at the hands of the Basque militant group ETA, which jolted Spaniards and prompted both parties to cancel final....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This is very adverse news. The voters of Spain will have to live with the consequences.
So in other words, this guy won re-election despite the fact his country is going to hell. Amazing, is it not, the lure of socialism. Even as the people are being flushed down the toilet they still think they are just going for a swim at the beach. It isn’t until they hit the sewage treatment plant that they realize exactly the trip they have been taken on.
You have to wonder if 5% of the voters wasted their votes on a write-in candidate because the conservative Popular Party candidate was not "conservative enough".
Looks like Spain is “going Spain” again.
Sounds like another clintonoid is claiming a “mandate” with 43.8% of the vote. The people of Spain better not be acting surprised when they start getting their heads chopped off.
You have to wonder if 5% of the voters wasted their votes on a write-in candidate because the conservative Popular Party candidate was not “conservative enough”.
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Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The gross stupidity of the voting public is pictured perfectly here. How so many of them think they are going to get a free ride from a socialist government, and not pay dearly for it, is beyond comprehension. Socialism ALWAYS fails — because it cannot pay for itself and never does. It is tragic to see that these fools that voted for the socialist ACCEPT the crappy conditions and failures within the country, all in exchange for a perceived free ride. Sickening -— and we see the same trend forming here -— a massive tragedy in the making.
This is horrible but not it is hardly a big win for the socialists. The percentages show almost an even division. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the last minute drama was planned by the socialists to stall the conservatives in reclaiming the government.
Actually, I don’t HAVE to wonder about that at all. I wonder if the Conservative Party put up a decent, strong Conservative candidate that could attract those voters. THAT is the CANDIDATE’S responsibility, you know. We don’t do vote welfare.
43% to 40% is a ‘clear endorsement’ ? Ah how the AP loves it some socialism.
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And yes — all of you who don’t vote for McCain in November and thus help usher in an Obama/Hilary presidency can look at what is happening in Spain for what’ll happen.
Spain is walking Spanish down the hall...
Sounds a lot like Michigan and Granholm.
Spain hasn’t been the same since Franco’s death in 1975.
Suckers play Lotto for many of the same reasons that they vote Leftist - they’re hoping to get something for nothing. What they don’t realize is that the odds are much worse than for Lotto.
Suckers vote Leftist for many of the same reasons that they play Lotto - they’re hoping to get something for nothing. What they don’t realize is that the odds are much worse than for Lotto.
In Vermont, in America a socialist, Bernie Sanders won election over a conservative with 65% of the vote to 32% for the conservative.
The party of socialism won the last US congressional elections with 52% of the vote.
Wrong. The vote was 43% for the Socialists and 40% for the conservative Popular Party, but the other 17% of the vote went mainly to the far left, who will form a coalition government with the socialists.
Not "despite the fact." Because. There are plenty of people who want to go to hell, and a good many of them are apparently eligible to vote in Spain.
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