As Andrew noted yesterday, Europe is in a frenzy over Euro 2004. However, I'm not sure that a soccer-mad populace is the only reason for low voter turnout, or the general feeling of indolence and apathy that seems to linger over the European voter. It is important to note the extremely low voter turnout in the 10 countries that recently joined the EU. I've seen numbers of 26 -27% turnout in Poland, Czech Republic, etc. Many people over here are shocked at these numbers. I tend to agree that it reflects poorly on the new citizens of the Eu to not even bother to show up for their first votes since be allowed to join. The new countries weren't the only ones with low voter turnout though. Britain and Ireland both had less than 50% turnout. Soccer may play a small part, but I believe that is obfuscating the real problem - the Europeans just don't care. It seems to me that the average citizen of Ireland or Britain prefer to leave politics to the intelligentsia; they'd rather spend their time protesting Pres. Bush and supporting John Kerry.
The election coverage has been quite remarkable. The Euro-skeptic parties have indeed gained seats. It looks like Sinn Fein may gain a seat in the EU Parliament, much to the consternation of many of the Irish. Sunday's Irish Times opined that the Irish people were embarrassing themselves by their recent support of Sinn Fein in both local and European elections. My cab-driver from the Dublin airport to my accomodations in Dublin was an ardent supporter of Sinn Fein and excited by the party's growing acceptance by mainstream Irish folks. We were in London when PM Tony Blair's Labour government was dealt a blow by the British electorate. European governments that have supported Pres. Bush have suffered at the polls in recent days. Is this a harbinger for Bush in Nov.? I certainly hope not, but if Europe is any indication (which, honestly, it is usually not - Thank the Lord) it will certainly be a tight contest.
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