Well, Jutland is often called the “redneck-part” of Denmark, because most of the 40,000 farmers live here. But they traditionally vote for the Liberals (and they depend on foreign workers, so restricting that wouldn’t be their interest). And the CPH-area usually vote for the Social Democrates.
I think I’ll try and do some research about that over the weekend. I just read a short article, where they interviewed some voters. They describe themselves as the normal people with the normal jobs – not like all those academics. The say that DPP is more like what the Social Demcrates used to be – a party for workers and consisting of workers. But now, all the Social Democrates are academics, whereas the DDP people are just normal “little” people, like mail men and nurses.
Ah, the workers thing is big with the perception of the PVV too. They stole a large part of their political program from the Socialist Party, actually. Literally lifted it from their program. Keeping the pension age at 65 (something they sold out on immediately), better care for the elderly, all that sort of stuff was the “social” side of their campaign. I guess it’s a standard part of European far-right parties. I mean, look at national-socialism in 1930’s Germany. They too proposed to help workers, curb unemployment, protect the family, all that jazz. And they paired it with xenophobia, like the PVV and DPP. Which is why the PVV program reads like something out of the “early national-socialism” chapter in my high school history book.
I was watching this talk by Noam Chomsky the other day and I believe he is spot on about the raise of populist right wing politicians. He contends that they are the only ones providing answers. The answers might be intellectually dishonest and just plain wrong, but in times of uncertainty, they are the ones addressing a sector of the population that feels they have no representation. The more moderate left has all but abandoned their working class roots. Instead, they have embraced a more globalized, intellectual discourse. This, in turn, has alienated the working classes and left them feeling that nobody is speaking on their behalf. People like Wilders in The Netherlands (or Sarah Palin in the US, just to cite an example) are talking to them. They are addressing them as equals (needless to say, I do not have to elaborate on the fallacy of this “rhetoric of equals” and the demagogue aspects of it), but they are tapping into a huge voter base that feels left out. This is our failure. By “our” I mean those who are actively involved in left of center politics. We have to acknowledge that we have let this happen. And now, in many aspects, it is too late to correct it because the electorate has become so polarized that there is little room available to bring a discourse based on reason to the mainstream. Even the left, in order to survive is slowly embracing the populist tactics.
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