Germany and Portugal went to the polls today in Parliamentary elections. In Germany, the insipid Social Democrats leached support both right and left, with centrists defecting to the Christian Democrats (whose right fringe in turn shifted to the NeoLiberal Free Democrats), while lefties shifted to The Left and Greens. The result is that in the midst of the Worst Financial Crisis Since the Great DepressionTM, Germany has elected exactly the wrong solution: a NeoLiberal tax-cutting, small government coalition. I guess they'll get what they voted for, and hopefully it'll be a warning to them not to be so stupid in future.
In Portugal its a different story. The ruling (NeoLiberal) Socialist party has lost its absolute majority, but the votes seem to have flowed mainly to the Left Bloc. Unfortunately Portuguese coalition politics is complicated, making it unlikely the Socialists will coalesce with their natural allies on the left, instead preferring to crawl into bed with the right-wing Democratic and Social Centre / People´s Party.
