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The Argentine Electorate Doesn't Choose Crazy (Yet) [1]
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Date: 2023-10-23
There is a solid 30% crazy vote in the Argentine elections this year. Yesterday, that did not prove enough to put the craziest candidate in La Casa Rosada.
In the second round of voting, Javier Milei, leading a libertarian coalition called La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances), not only failed to pass the threshold to win the election but saw his percentage of the vote remain stagnant from the primary voting back in August. Milei, as noted in the international press and in an article here represents the Trump-Bolsonaro authoritarian ideological strain of candidates springing up all over the world. Jair Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo attended Milei’s Sunday election party.
A quick explanation of the elections in Argentina: In August, the Primarias Abiertas Simultáneas y Obligatorias (Simultaneous and mandatory open primaries) were held for all candidates. To advance to the general election, a candidate must be the top vote getter for his or her party, receive at least 1.5% of the vote and party membership must be at least 0.4% of the total eligible electorate. Voting is compulsory for all citizens between 18 and 70 and 16- and 17-year olds (and older than 70) may vote as well.
Five candidates for the presidency made it to the second round, with Milei (and Milei’s coalition) receiving the most votes. Finishing second was Patricia Bullrich, from the conservative Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) coalition. They are the coalition of former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019). Finishing a distant third was the candidate of the current ruling party, Sergio Massa of the Unión por la Patria coalition. Massa, like current president Alberto Fernández (2019 to present), are affiliated with the Partido Justicialista, the largest Peronismo party. The two other candidates scored about 5% combined of the votes cast in August.
Javier Milei, the television personality and ‘economist’ turned political leader, brandishes a chain saw, a symbol of his pledge to slash government spending at a campaign event.
Since his first place showing in August, the attention has been on Milei. His extreme views were reported in the international press, including his rejection of climate change, public education, the national bank (vowing to abolish the currency), most government programs and agencies, and even the protection of human rights. His running mate has attacked the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) as both questioning the decades-long consensus over the nature of Argentina’s dictatorship and the number of victims. And then there is these:
He has described Pope Francis, the Argentine former archbishop of Buenos Aires, as “evil.” The leftist leaders of neighboring governments are “communists,” China is an “assassin,” and climate change is a “socialist lie.” He has proposed creating a market for the sale of organs.
Some more crazy with Tucker Carlson
(Oh, and he is a former tantric sex coach.)
But Milei has build his coalition on anger. Anger over the economic situation in Argentina, with triple-digit inflation, extreme poverty, the falling value of the peso and an untenable economic outlook. These issues made it much easier for Milei to exploit. His extreme views, spouted at rallies as he waves a chainsaw, has fired up those who have felt the struggle for day-to-day survival. Milei paints his opponents as thieves who should not be trusted.
The ruling party was bound to take an electoral beating and Fernández chose not to run again. Also hurting Massa was his current role as Minister of Economy (since July 2022) with the current government during the economic crisis. Massa did his best to push his plans to move forward juxtaposed with warnings of what a Milei presidency might actually mean to the population.
In Sunday’s election, Milei’s 30% held, but Massa increased his support from 27% to 36.7%, adding over three million additional votes. (Milei only added 700,000 new votes since the PARO.) From The Guardian:
“It hurts my soul. I expected he’d win in the first round. I was surprised,” admitted Iván González, a 22-year-old Milei supporter who wore a Donald Trump hat and carried a yellow Gadsden flag – an American-revolution era banner used by the US extreme right and Milei’s movement.
The run-off was triggered when no candidate won over 45% of the vote, nor won 40% of the vote while finishing more than 10% ahead of the second-place candidate. Both of the remaining candidates now look for more votes. Third-place finisher Bullrich received 6.2 million votes: where her votes go will be the big decider as she is not inclined to endorse Massa.
Although not all of the results are in, Milei’s La Libertad Avanza also failed to gain traction in the Chamber of Deputies as Massa’s Unión por la Patria coalition took 58 seats to La Libertad Avanza’s 35 of the 130 seats. Unión por la Patria also took 12 of the 24 senate seats, compared to 8 for La Libertad Avanza. If Milei does win, his abilities to pass meaningful legislation is slim. But that never stops crazy.
Now, the two presidential candidates move on to the run-off election on November 19th.
Stand by for more crazy!
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