Spanish right wins election by landslide: exit poll

AFP ^

[Arthurio]

Spain's right stormed to a landslide election victory Sunday, an exit poll said, as voters toppled yet another eurozone government engulfed in a deepening debt crisis.

Bowed by a 21.5 percent jobless rate, a stalled economy and spending cuts, the 36 million-strong electorate ended the Socialists' seven-year rule with a shattering defeat, the exit poll showed.

Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party took an absolute majority of between 181 and 185 seats in the 350-member Congress of Deputies, said projections based on an exit poll by public broadcaster RTVE.

The ruling Socialist party PSOE won between 115 and 119 seats, the poll said.

If the exit poll is correct, Rajoy will have a free hand to ram through severe austerity measures in the eurozone's fourth biggest economy.

Spain is the fifth and last of the so-called periphery eurozone nations to ditch its government this year after Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy.

Though considered uncharismatic, Rajoy won support from voters lured by his promise to fix the economy and create jobs, even if it means more austerity.

He vowed to make cuts "everywhere", except for pensions, so as to meet Spain's target of cutting the public deficit to 4.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 9.3 percent last year.

[ScottinVA]

after the socialist destroyed the country, now they want a conservative fix.

At least the Spaniards understood the steps to fixing their economic problems must start with tossing out the socialists. I have doubts as to whether Americans have that same level of understanding.

[jboot]

Bingo. Without Franco Spain would have become either a Nazi or a Soviet puppet. Just imagine a Warsaw Pact Spain controlling access to the Med throughout the Cold War. Put into proper perspective, Franco did much more good than harm. But NO ONE (not just the Left) will tell you that.

[Da Bilge Troll]

I’ll “enlighten” you, go read up on Franco, from a non-leftist based source.

I'll add that to my list.

[Impy]

This is good.

But I think it’s more “throwing the bums out” rather than actually voting for conservative polices.

If there was an election in Germany right now Merkel would lose.

In Italy people overwhelmingly agree that cutting debt should be the top priority. But the same people don’t want any welfare spending cut.

[GeronL]

Merkel is pro-Europe and pro-bailouts. She is not what we would call conservative over here.

[Impy]

Precisely. Germany doesn’t want those polices. But they’re prepared to vote her out for people that would be even worse. Just like we voted in Obama after a liberal Republican Prez and a RINO-led turned socialist democrat Congress were the ones who messed things up here.

Her coalition partners the FDP (fiscal conservative, moreso than Merkel’s party “classical liberal” ) are the ones who have really lost support. I don’t know what’s up with them. They are pro-EU as well.

[PapaBear3625]

I work outdoors, and during the height of the summer heat, I often wondered to myself just how they did it. They were some seriously tough people.

There's a good reason for the tradition of the siesta during the hottest part of the afternoon. You don't fight the heat, you work around it.

[Windflier]

There's a good reason for the tradition of the siesta during the hottest part of the afternoon. You don't fight the heat, you work around it.

True, but we modern Americans don't (and can't) operate that way. Forces of every description compel us to get as much done, as fast as possible, during every work day.

Besides, during the blistering Texas summer, it's already hot enough to melt asphalt by 10:00AM, and it stays that way until the wee hours of the night. It's why we run our A/Cs 24/7 four months out of the year.