A marginal party with obnoxious fascist roots came in third, with 17.6 percent of the vote, in elections in the country world famous for tolerance, open-mindedness, and liberalism. The larger parties say they will have nothing to do with the nationalist Sweden Democrat Party (not to be confused with the more dominant, liberal Social Democrat Party), whose voters are apparently the Swedish equivalents of “deplorables.”
Of course, in the same breath they say it is fine to ignore almost 18 percent of the population, even though shifting their votes rightward was the only way for voters to communicate to political leaders that they are unhappy with the direction the mainstream parties are taking the country.
If it can happen in Sweden, it can happen in the United States. U.S. Democrats may think Trump’s election is a transitory fluke caused by Electoral College idiosyncrasies, but Sweden offers pause. The Swedes don’t have an Electoral College. The critical question for Democrats at this point is, “What did it take to turn the most tolerant country in the world in the hard right direction?”
First, it wasn’t the economy. Many observers have noted that the Swedish economy is doing just fine right now. Thus, the ruling party should have been a shoo-in. Given that the economic success equals electoral success equation is almost a truism of politics everywhere, something else must be more important to a democratic electorate than even the economy.
Why U.S. Democrats Should Be Very Worried About Sweden’s Hard Right Turn
Of course, in the same breath they say it is fine to ignore almost 18 percent of the population, even though shifting their votes rightward was the only way for voters to communicate to political leaders that they are unhappy with the direction the mainstream parties are taking the country.
If it can happen in Sweden, it can happen in the United States. U.S. Democrats may think Trump’s election is a transitory fluke caused by Electoral College idiosyncrasies, but Sweden offers pause. The Swedes don’t have an Electoral College. The critical question for Democrats at this point is, “What did it take to turn the most tolerant country in the world in the hard right direction?”
First, it wasn’t the economy. Many observers have noted that the Swedish economy is doing just fine right now. Thus, the ruling party should have been a shoo-in. Given that the economic success equals electoral success equation is almost a truism of politics everywhere, something else must be more important to a democratic electorate than even the economy.
Why U.S. Democrats Should Be Very Worried About Sweden’s Hard Right Turn
