Italy's Elections.
Having left Italy (we're now living in Norway), it was not as easy as I had expected to find out what was going on in the elections yesterday. Had I been on the ground in Italy, I probably would have kept one of the Mediaset tv stations on and stayed up til it was all over. Here in Norway I alternated between three web sites--Repubblica's, Corriere's, and Rai's. But with web news you really don't get the rhythm of events the way you do with broadcast news. I went to sleep with the election still in doubt.
And woke up to find Prodi winning the Camera, and now the Senate.
It's all so American, no insult intended. First, the misleading exit polls, which we've seen plenty of in the States lately. Then the elongated uncertainty. Then the promise of an extended post-election. In 2000, I went to bed thinking Bush had won, then woke up to realize that Gore was still running, then learned with the rest of the non-delusional nation that Gore had actually won, then endured a month of seeing the election stolen. The Italian case may work out the same, in that Berlusconi hasn't yet conceded, and promises to challenge the results, which include a half million spoiled ballots. It would not surprise me if a large plurality of those are from Berlusconi supporters.
But for now let's say addio to Berlusconi il Presidente. He'll stick around. He's the Ross Perot of Italy, and is fortunate enough to inhabit a system where controlling 20-23 % of the vote is enough to win power. He'll stick around, and continue to peddle his interests and protect his own celebrity, and he will make Italian politics exotic and fun for people elsewhere to follow. He is the world's premier retailer of populismo mediatico, as Eco puts it.
Having left Italy (we're now living in Norway), it was not as easy as I had expected to find out what was going on in the elections yesterday. Had I been on the ground in Italy, I probably would have kept one of the Mediaset tv stations on and stayed up til it was all over. Here in Norway I alternated between three web sites--Repubblica's, Corriere's, and Rai's. But with web news you really don't get the rhythm of events the way you do with broadcast news. I went to sleep with the election still in doubt.
And woke up to find Prodi winning the Camera, and now the Senate.
It's all so American, no insult intended. First, the misleading exit polls, which we've seen plenty of in the States lately. Then the elongated uncertainty. Then the promise of an extended post-election. In 2000, I went to bed thinking Bush had won, then woke up to realize that Gore was still running, then learned with the rest of the non-delusional nation that Gore had actually won, then endured a month of seeing the election stolen. The Italian case may work out the same, in that Berlusconi hasn't yet conceded, and promises to challenge the results, which include a half million spoiled ballots. It would not surprise me if a large plurality of those are from Berlusconi supporters.
But for now let's say addio to Berlusconi il Presidente. He'll stick around. He's the Ross Perot of Italy, and is fortunate enough to inhabit a system where controlling 20-23 % of the vote is enough to win power. He'll stick around, and continue to peddle his interests and protect his own celebrity, and he will make Italian politics exotic and fun for people elsewhere to follow. He is the world's premier retailer of populismo mediatico, as Eco puts it.
posted by jnerone at 5:18 AM
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