American right-wingers on an American forum? That feels like a bit of an oxymoron. One thing voters might be missing—and maybe I’m wrong here too—is that Fihofer was actually the perfect litmus test for how poorly the Freedom Party of Austria governs. Even then, the damage was minimal. If we keep going down this path, we're looking at a Freedom Party of Austria administration following whatever social experiment is currently being rolled out...
As an American living in Austria (meaning, I'm just a regular American, not some political extremist), there is absolutely no way I could vote for a party that aligns itself with someone like Milorad Dodik. My intention is to remain an American, so if I stay here, my voting will be limited to local elections. I’d only ever consider changing my citizenship if America were to become America again, or if it simply became easier or more beneficial for my family to be considered Austrian...
I have no intention of changing my citizenship or my identity just because of how people vote, nor am I interested in playing politics...😁
coastalbison6 said:Come on, get real—Fox News? 🤔That's just pure tabloid trash. 🙂 You're better off checking the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or even USA Today.
Look, man, I think you need to step down from that high horse for a second. 😁 I’ll only take the second half of your post as actual, well-meaning advice.
I'm looking at a site that provides the most immediate and direct results. In this case, it's the one mentioned. They had exit polls that lined up perfectly with the more "sophisticated" statistical models. And honestly, the moderator of that debate on MSNBC was anything but a sign of intelligence...😁
Casey Bennett2 said:Can someone clarify if these are exit polls or actual vote counts coming in?
I’m watching the PBS live stream and I'm struggling with my basic German.
The numbers are being tallied, but obviously you can't have anything more accurate than exit polls or high-level projections at this stage. It looks like VdB might be pulling ahead since they seem to have captured more new voters. I'm keeping an ear on CNN to see when the official results start dropping...
So, it’s sitting at 54% for Hoffman—down by 4%. I guess I’ll just have to sit tight and watch :-) things are looking pretty intense. These days, it feels like anyone who isn't on the left wing is being labeled as clueless, uninformed, or just out of touch with reality... but honestly, I have a feeling VdB might actually pull it off this time. I’m genuinely scratching my head over how that would happen. It seems like the elites stayed right here in the States instead of traveling abroad 😁 ...
Robert Lee53 said:And what exactly is that supposed to mean?...
Exit polls... but honestly, just like in any other country, voters for someone like Trump or the typical establishment parties aren't exactly known for being the most socially praised groups. I don't put much stock in them. I'm keeping an eye on other data coming in...
I’ve been looking at various polls lately—trying to figure out what’s actually driving people to the polls today. It seems like a lot of folks are motivated by the idea that things look better abroad while our domestic security policies have taken a hit. If you break it down, you can see how Goldman Sachs supporters versus VDB supporters differ, which gives you a pretty clear indirect look at who is actually showing up in higher numbers.
It’s actually quite straightforward: if the first poll shows a strong lean toward Option A, and we know Option A resonates more with the Goldman Sachs crowd, then you can deduce that those voters are the ones driving the turnout. There have been all sorts of polls floating around, but that's the logic...
Well, I really need to start getting my conversational skills up to speed 😁. Honestly, politicians are the ones to blame for this whole mess—this refugee crisis is just pure incompetence from those in power. I won’t beat a dead horse here, but any country needs workers who actually feel at home in the place they live, people who follow local laws... and respect the culture they're joining.
This country has driven me crazy more times than I can count, and deep down, I know I'll always be seen as a second-class citizen compared to a true American 😁, but it doesn't bother me all that much. As long as I have a solid job, a decent place to live, and good people around me, I'm doing alright... 😁
This is going to be quite an interesting ride. To be honest, I’d much rather see Mr. Hofer take the win. But let's look at the reality: there is no way I could ever cast a vote for a party that aligns itself with the Mexican Radicals. I’ve mentioned this a few times before—everyone has their own convictions, and they don't always mesh with everyone else's. More importantly, he actually understands the complications that come with thousands upon thousands of unintegrated newcomers arriving...
It's honestly pretty chilling to think about, whether you hear it or read it...
I can't help but feel a little envious that we don't have this specific style of democracy back home in the United States; news outlets would certainly have a lot more work on their plates and much higher revenues to show for it 😁
I think someone earlier called me out for being "fearful" because I predict the next government will be led by the Republican Party. To me, it feels inevitable, though I suppose only time will tell. I won't go over my reasons again. And yes, I truly believe that once they take power, people like Pere Perica will feel a bit more clearly that they aren't really Austrian, nor will they ever be. A guy I used to date—second generation from Canada, holding an Austrian passport, educated in Vienna, speaking flawless German—could never, at least not in the slightest, manage to feel like an Austrian. Part of that comes down to his name on his passport...
In my view, citizenship is essentially your national identity. As someone who lived through the war in the United States, and someone who holds a significant cultural identity tied to my homeland for over 30 years, I have no intention of trying to pass myself off as an Austrian. I do think they could consider giving voting rights to permanent residents, but I realize things are probably a bit more complicated than that. I'll stick to voting in local elections...
The whole mail-in voting mechanism is just hilarious to me. It’s as if Austrians and those moving to Austria are so incredibly quiet and mobile that they somehow can't make it to a polling station for one weekend, yet they can certainly find the time to head to the mailbox and sign off on their ballots. It's pretty funny. Honestly, quite comical...
People who share my views don't really grasp the whole transgender issue either. They’ll do whatever it takes to make sure five-year-old girls aren't fast-tracked into being non-consensually transitioned and deeply traumatized. But the progressive left? They get it perfectly well.😁
The level of snobbery found in mail-in ballots is something you rarely see. 😁 And I'll say it again: that's how Americans voted, plain and simple. If Zoko were in charge, he’d turn the whole thing into a massive circus. Just one big, pathetic show.
To me, a healthy, functioning group of people is one that isn't too lazy or self-absorbed to admit when things are unclear. But honestly, I’ve always been someone who values hard work over sitting around doing nothing in every aspect of life, so that "Austrian" way of doing things just doesn't sit right with me...
If something like this happened in the States—counting all those votes, having 10% of the electorate using mail-in ballots (which can't be tampered with)—critics of our political system would be calling us the laughingstock of the world, or worse, using much harsher labels to describe our chaos...
Over here, it’s actually seen as a celebration of democracy. Honestly, I don't get the argument that people who travel frequently shouldn't be allowed to vote just because they happen to be spending their weekend in their favorite city, like Chicago or New York. It's just nonsense.
And yet, looking back at 2018, we ended up with Hofer in power :-) which is going to be absolute hell... for everyone, not just his supporters...
Kevin Davis11 said:But you're an immigrant too, I guess.
Do you really think those anti-immigrant Austrians, like Hofer, actually care about you?
I don't think I ever said anything like that—honestly, I believe that even if I changed my citizenship, they’d still see me as a foreigner. I’m an economic migrant who has all the right paperwork to be here. That’s how it should work for everyone; that’s what would actually make immigration meaningful. You can't apply one set of standards to one group and a completely different set to another and expect things to work out... and I'm not going to get into the whole "culture clash" debate.
I'm here for my career, and as long as I'm surrounded by mostly Americans, life is pretty decent 😁
I’m going to hold off on commenting on when the results will be finalized; I don't want to come across as insensitive to the local culture here.
My own prediction (playing fortune teller for a moment): - van der Bellen wins via the mail-in ballots. - Vienna celebrates, while the rest of the country simmers with resentment. - That anger stems from something the "leftists" frequently bring up in the States—the influence of the diaspora, for example. Even though van der Bellen won democratically and by the book. - Uncontrolled immigration policies are starting to bear bitter fruit (it doesn't matter who is currently in power, it's more about the lack of foresight and short-sighted decisions made in the past). - Feeling slighted, Hofer's voters might start romanticizing an option they feel "unfairly" lost to. In their minds, without some sort of divine intervention, Hofer actually won—that's their logic, not mine. I recognize van der Bellen's victory. - We won't see the destructive nature of the FPÖ's platform for at least another two years. - These people are incompetent and corrupt at every level of government. - And eventually, the next administration will be FPÖ. To my audience: enjoy the show... because I might actually start thinking seriously about moving back...
If Hofer were to win, in my opinion, we would see: - A lot of pre-emptive destruction, even if I suspect he might handle the immigration situation better. - No real improvement in the economy. - Hofer wouldn't contribute much to our international standing, especially within Europe. - A firsthand look at what a constitutional crisis actually looks like. - What happens when tourism revenue starts to dip (and that's being generous). - The FPÖ would just end up right back where they were before the immigration crisis, while the current folks in power would finally be forced to actually do their jobs...
So, in a way, I'm actually hoping for a Hofer victory. You see how people act once you hand them the reins; for any non-indoctrinated American, the Kukuriku Coalition was a perfect example of how things can go...
From what I understand, if you want to actually have a say in the presidential or parliamentary elections—not the local ones, mind you—you have to be an Austrian citizen, which means giving up your current one.
My identity is American, and honestly, nothing about life here has impressed me enough to switch it up just to go around pretending to be someone else under a different name or chasing some perceived benefit. My nationality isn't for sale. I know plenty of people living in the States for decades who never even touch their original passports.
So, no, I didn't vote. If I did have the right to vote and held citizenship, I would have gone for Hofer. As an American, I'd lean toward him solely because of the immigration crisis and the general sense of instability. However, given those ties to radical Mexicans, I wouldn't have cast a ballot for him. But those are just "what ifs." I certainly wouldn't vote for that stubborn, lazy, grumpy, patronizing "green" candidate, no matter how much I might personally identify with rural values...
coastalbison6 said:It seems like things work the same way across most of the developed world:
The left tends to be urban, highly educated, and progressive. The right tends to be rural, less educated, and conservative.
Carol Newman2 said:PBS Poll Results:
The Breakdown:
Hofer at 86% Van Buren at 14%
It’s honestly wild seeing a gap that massive....
I might go so far as to say that it’s the working class—rather than the communists—who truly deserve the credit here...😁They tend to pay much closer attention to economic trends and actually get out into the world more often, rather than just staying stuck in their own bubble. Honestly, I think the whole "civilized left" movement is exactly what caused the right wing to surge—not even the political center, but the actual right. And just to be clear, I’m not some rural voter, nor am I uneducated (having a postgraduate degree counts for something, right?), and if protecting the rights of the vulnerable makes me conservative, then maybe I am...
I mean, yeah, I definitely agree that it’s always easier to play the theorist, sitting back and talking big while someone else actually has to get their hands dirty... like trying to clear out a patch of stinging nettles with nothing but a stick... 😁
I might actually end up looking like a Republican Party supporter at this rate, which is pretty wild 😁 but if I’m not mistaken, that wage gap is a staggering 40%. Meanwhile, the coalition that left the Republican Party out hasn't managed to move the needle even by 1%. Of course, everyone loves to point the finger at the opposition instead of the current administration. Sure, let's go with that... 😁
Honestly, I don't think anyone actually has a clue who the winner is yet. I'm just not sure if they’re going to keep counting until midnight—making it feel like those unofficial election nights we deal with back home—or if everyone will just call it a night and pick things up again tomorrow. Based on how things usually go in this country, I’d bet on the latter 😁 ...
Vienna is at 64%, but my crew is at 80% 😁 Hofer is just a couple of steps away from 23 😁
Right, I forgot—Vienna isn't the entire United States of America. The map looks a bit different when you zoom out. Vienna doesn't really feel the crisis; they're just living in their own little green bubble over there...