[French President] Sarkozy’s fate is ... an awful warning to conservatism throughout Europe and even in the U.S. Since the end of the Cold War, mainstream conservative parties have thought they could safely dispense with patriotic voters disturbed by the drift of power from nation-states to undemocratic transnational institutions. They ignored their complaints about the loss of democratic accountability and the diminution of national sovereignty as old-fashioned and irrelevant. They believed those voters, long a staple element in conservative coalitions, had nowhere else to go. Well, ... these voters have joined new coalitions with left-leaning voters motivated by economic insecurity under the auspices of insurgent parties of Left and Right. That has happened across Europe and, indeed, the advanced world. And where insurgent parties were not available, they have stayed at home — and the mainstream center-right parties have gradually become weaker, less connected with the voters, more reliant on public relations and opinion management, and increasingly rooted in a transnational political class.
by John O'Sullivan
Link Micro-Blog for thetroglodyte.com - Opinions that Catch the Eye from the View of the Cave
