For John, BLUF: There are contested elections out there, just not so much here.
From Intelligence Analyst John McCreary and Nightwatch we have this item:
Jordan: Jordanians will hold parliamentary elections on 23 January. Some 1,400 candidates are contesting the 150 seats in Parliament.If this was our election here in Lowell this year that would be like 140 candidates for City Council and School Committee combined. That might be a little too many, but what about a total 35? That might be interesting, as the field got winnowed down.
The interesting thing is that Mr McCreary reports the Jordanian electorate as apathetic.
Regards — Cliff
2 comments:
Israel, too.
The exit polls, which are preliminary, suggested that Mr. Netanyahu’s challengers had a far stronger showing than the prime minister and his aides had anticipated. Two hours before the polls closed, Mr. Netanyahu made an urgent appeal for support from Israelis who had not yet voted.
“The Likud leadership is in danger,” Mr. Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page around 8 p.m. “I ask you to leave everything and go out now to vote,” he added. “This is very important to guarantee the future of the state of Israel.”
While Mr. Netanyahu’s joint campaign list with the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu faction was still expected to win more of Parliament’s seats than the next-largest party, making him the likeliest candidate to lead the next government, a relatively weak showing and a surge for centrist and left-leaning parties could force him to moderate his policies and leave him with a fragile coalition of competing interests.
*fingers crossed*
But what approach would a Center Right Coalition bring to the table? Accept the Iranian bomb? Frankly, I am all for it. Let Iran have the bomb and then promise to turn their territory to glass if they mess up. : The question is, will they believe us?
Of course an Iran with a bomb may feel freer to mess with the Syria / Lebanon thing. Will Israel be deterred from responding to Hezbollah provocations once Iran has a successful nuclear test? And what the heck is going to happen in Syria. Yes, Bibi sometimes seems to be too big for his britches, but where are his Urals he can fall back behind in the event of war? The US needs to be fully behind Israel, or offer now to provide a new homeland for the millions of Jews who are being hung out to dry, including a place to put the Wailing Wall, which they should bring with them.
But, elections matter and the one in Israel signals the ambiguity the voters now feel.
Regards&nhbsp; — Cliff
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