Specter of weak government
One of the most widespread media myths concerns the swing voters who supposedly decide the election outcome in the final stretch. Even in France, where Nicolas Sarkozy enjoyed a comfortable lead before the vote, many believed that the unusually large number of undecideds could change the result. Their expectations were defeated: The number of swing voters in Western democracies grows, reflecting a crisis of confidence in the existing parties. In the end, however, most votes go with the election favorites. By posing the «one-party government or new elections» dilemma, Costas Karamanlis has tried to stop leaks to the extreme-right LAOS and at the same time strengthen, among vacillating voters, the feeling that ND will win by a clear margin. The message was that a ND victory is certain and that what remains to be seen is whether ND will govern alone. In a delayed response, George Papandreou suggested a possible PASOK-Radical Left coalition as a progressive alternative. This is a flawed strategy. To those to the right of it – the so-called middle ground – PASOK reinforced its underdog image, pulling rabbits out of the hat at the very last moment to win the election. On its left, it came across as unreliable. For how can a leftist voter interpret PASOK’s sudden affection just a few months after Theodoros Pangalos unleashed verbal vitriol against KKE and the Coalition of the Radical Left (then Synaspismos). How could Michalis Chrysochoidis join hands with Aleka Papariga or Alekos Alavanos on foreign policy, public safety or education when he barely differs on these issues from Dora Bakoyannis? Why should the Left feel guilty because PASOK has trouble beating a seriously disadvantaged government or because the law obstructs the possibility of a one-party government? Why should the Left commit political suicide by signing up for a PASOK organ donor program?
