DANISH ELECTION: WINNERS AND LOSERS

Yesterday the right of center V/K/Ø government led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secured re-election, with the support of 1 mandate from the Færø Islands, and without need for support of the new Ny Alliance party. Many, including Gateway Pundit, call it a "great" victory. But as far as the results are concerned - 90 parliamentiary seats to V/K/Ø vs. 89 for the Left, the margin of victory was narrow, and it demonstrates that danes are still split very close down the middle. So who were the winners and the losers?

Let's start with the biggest loser: Naser Khader and the Ny Alliance. When they first emerged as the fresh breeze that promised to shift the political balance away from the "block politics" controlled by Pia Kærsgaard and the extreme right Danish Folkeparty to the center, Ny Alliance were predicted by opinion polls to take 21 parliamentary seats. Fogh Rasmussen's decision to call for early elections caught the party unprepared. The 3 week campaign revealed a party without a concrete platform, and a leader - Khader - bereft of the public speaking skills to prevent most of their projected support from evaporating. And Khader was able to add a few strategic blunders to their miserable performance.

Winners on the right: Pia Kærsgaard and the Dansk Folkeparti. Throughout the campaign DF was under constant attack for her party's coarse anti-immigrant, and anti-muslim rhetoric and their firm behind-the-scenes control of the government (while they hold no minister posts DF hold the key to Fogh's parliamentary majority). It was clear that while the opposition cast their collective spleen against Pia and DF, their own coalition members- the Conservatives and Venstre, were reticent to come to their aid. Kærsgaard bit back her anger/pain and kept to her party's platform. This was rewarded by Dansk Folkeparti's voters, who are indifferent to the criticism employed by the left, and the party gained one mandate.

Winners on the Left: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Social Democratic Party, and Villy Sovndal, Socialist Folkeparti. Both candidates displayed charisma and good speaking ability while they succeeded in moving their parties slightly towards the center. While the Social Democrats made no real gains, Thorning- Schmidt gained tons of credibility. Perhaps she is already deemed worthy to become denmark's first female primeminister.

The Socialist Folkeparti picked up a huge number of young "swing" voters - and doubled their presence in the Parliament. This may foreshadow a possible change of government in the next election.

Losers on the Left: Extreme left Enhedslisten just made the minimum to continue their presence in Parliament. Radical Venstre, coming off a stellar election last time round, were damaged by the ego of former party leader Marianne Jelved, which led to the exit of Naser Khader. The new leader, Margrethe Vestager was unable to develop a platform that was capable of shifting votes across the center.

Interestingly enough the EU, and the Danish presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, were not top issues in the election. All the parties agreed that Schools, Healthcare, and the Environment were key issues - and they were not able to delineate strong differences on these issues to swing votes or damage their opponents. The election more closely resembled a US election, with emphasis on personalities and talking points, spin, and rhymming rhetoric.

With an 86% voter turnout this was a great victory for DEMOCRACY. Let us not forget those who made the greatest sacrifice in the last century so danes could enjoy it.