Berlusconi Seen Crushed in Regional Vote -Exit Poll

[Rose Siding]

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has probably suffered a stinging defeat at key regional elections on Sunday and Monday, according to exit polls reported by national TV station RAI.

Berlusconi's center-right coalition appeared to have lost all but two regional governments of the 13 at stake, the exit polls said, holding on to just Lombardy and Veneto -- both in its stronghold in northern Italy.
.....
Berlusconi had prepared his supporters for a poor result, saying he expected a mid-term backlash due to Italy's economic woes, but if the exit polls are confirmed when official results come out later on Monday, it will be far worse than expected.

Berlusconi's coalition lost three regions seen as crucial by parties and pundits: Piedmont in the north, Lazio in the center and Puglia in the south, the exit polls said. But the results were very close and may change when ballots are counted.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/04/04/berlusconi_seen_crushed_in_regional_vote__exit_poll/

[Frederik]

1. Good news

It's the war, stupid.

[Auntie Bush]

3. It's also hated for Bush!

[Pirate Smile]

2. Exit polls? Who believes Exit Polls?

:eyes:

[merwin]

6. NEWS FLASH: Bush/Cheney ticket wins Italian Election

[NYC]

27. This may be the last of the exit polls in Italy.

Just like here, if the exit polls contradict Diebold, get rid of the exit polls.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Looks like Bush will have to invade?

Oh, thats right he can't invade a country that the US has been occupying for over 50 years.

Don

[ECH1969]

5. I expected this

They had only 12% turnout, mostly due to the Pope's death which kept more conservative religious voters from going to the polls.

[daleo]

14. But, conservative religious voters are highly motivated

At least they were supposed to be during the U.S. presidential elections. I don't really buy this explanation. Does the church teach people not to vote in any month the pope dies? Or are they just too sad to bother?

[rocktivity]

17. 12% turnout, you say?

What's Italian for "mulligan"?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Fab1969]

18. The turnout was 74.6%

Italians voted in high numbers despite the Pope's mourning.
And 74% is an actual number, because in Italy there is no difference between eligible voters and registered voters -- so it's 74% of **all** citizens above 18.

[Toots]

22. Where do you get your stats?

I had heard much different..

[Henny Penny]

24. turnout 71.4%...

according to swissinfo.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5656023&cKey=1112638872000

[Fab1969]

25. I got my stats from Repubblica.it

... but I read the wrong column :-(
The exact number is closer to 71%

[Ironpost]

7. Finally some good news.

[pansypoo53219]

8. my italian e-pal

told me he would probably hold onto 4 seats, so this IS good news.

[Fab1969]

19. ... and he/she was wrong

These are REGIONAL elections. Nothing to do with the composition of the parliament.
Italy has 20 regions, the elections were held in 13.
Out of these 13, exit polls give the left coalition 11 regions, and the real data support the exit polls (funny how this always happens when all votes are counted by hand).

[NYC]

28. By hand?

Stop making us jealous.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[Maine-i-acs]

9. Economic woes my ass -

They're trouncing Silvio for being a BushBot.

Join Aznar in exile, Silvio. Count your money and watch your back.

[Zorra]

10. "it will be far worse than expected". Congratulations, Italia!

A good day for Italy and the world.

:toast: :party: :bounce: :beer: :hi: :loveya: :grouphug: :headbang: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause:

[mimitabby]

21. yes!!

they soundly beat him. I was looking at the details on the italian newpaper's chart.
http://www.corriere.it/Speciali/Politica/2005/regionali/
it's not all 49.9 to 49.9
his cronies aren't even in the top 2 in some regions :)

[gratuitous]

11. But after the Diebold machines were checked . . .

Surprise, surprise! The exit polls were uniformly wrong, and Berlusconi's party was returned to office with a sweeping mandate!

But there wasn't any jiggery-pokery, so stop saying that, you conspiracy theorists!

[daleo]

15. How do you say glitch in Italian? n/t

[Fab1969]

20. Mazzetta

[phusion]

12. Do U think the new PM will pull troops soon? n/t

[rocktivity]

13. Se vi trovate giù con gli scimpanzè, vi alzerete con le pulci.

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[Arugula Latte]

16. Ah, Italia. What a country.

The food. The scenery. The art. The architecture. The history.

Amazing. Beautiful. In my next life I want to come back as a cool Italian motoring around Tuscany on my little scooter, stopping to drink Chianti at sidewalk cafes. *sigh*

[GOPBasher]

23. Congrats, Italia!

I'm glad some people will punish their leaders for right wing extremism.

[struggle4progress]

26. Berlusconi 'Massacred' in Regional Elections

By Robin Pomeroy and Gavin Jones

ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suffered a crushing defeat at Italian regional elections, official results showed on Monday, a huge boost for center-left leader Romano Prodi's hopes of unseating him next year.

In what one of his defeated regional governors described as a "massacre," Berlusconi's center-right coalition appeared to have lost 11 of the 13 regions at stake, holding on to just two -- Lombardy and Veneto -- both in its stronghold in the north.

Prodi, who had said he would be satisfied by winning just one new seat, was delighted by his landslide victory.

"Today we have easily won in terms of the number of votes and the number of regions," he told a news conference. <snip>

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8083019

[Judi Lynn]

29. REGIONALS: BERLUSCONI, VOTING MUSSOLINI IS DANGEROUS

REGIONALS: BERLUSCONI, VOTING MUSSOLINI IS DANGEROUS
(AGI) - Rome, April 2 - The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, giving an interview to the 'Quotidiano Nazionale' newspaper, said, "I would like to ask right-wing supporters not to vote for Alessandra Mussolini. Otherwise they are playing right into left-wing hands by taking votes away from the House of Liberty coalition. These votes will carry double the weight, because they'll take one away from us and then add onto whatever the opposition gets". The premier then once again made the appeal he had made before on other occasions. "Get out and vote. There's a risk that these regional elections could be the springboard that launches the left-wing into national government, with serious risks, and I want to repeat this, for democracy". (AGI) -
021422 APR 05

http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200504021422-1076-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline