It’s funny what living in a foreign country can do to you. I have no idea what went on at the New Hampshire primaries, but I could tell you who is forming a coalition in the Austrian government, and which German politicians from which political parties are for or against said coalition, and why the Belgians are mad and the entire EU is in a tither.

I assume that most Americans don’t even know what’s going on in Austria, but it’s no small thing. The head of the political party who is, as of last night, going to be part of the coalition is a known right-wing extremist whose Austrian Freedom Party stands for all things xenophobic. The man himself, Jörg Haider, is a neo-fascist of the worst sort: he is young, clever, charming, and charismatic.

This quality of charisma is something that Europeans apparently value in their chancellor candidates as much as Americans value in their presidential candidates.

It’s the intelligence and charisma that make Haider so dangerous. When he spouts his anti-foreigner slogans and his “Austria for Austrians” kind of politics, his intelligence and composure entice people to buy his shtick. When he crassly insults the Belgian and French governments (not a good move for a man hoping to represent his country in the EU), his charm helps people to buy the lame apologies he offers afterwards (along the lines of, “You want to me say I’m sorry? All right, I’m sorry.”).

Haider’s brand of charisma can also be found in the German government. Edmund Stoiber, head of the Christian Social Union and a strong contender to be the next chancellor of Germany, shares Haider’s charm and his shark-toothed televangelist smile.

Stoiber is handsome, smart and able to rile up a beer tent full of Bavarians like a preacher (or like another infamous Austrian whose name also started with “H"). Stoiber and his party are the most far right of the “accepted" right in Germany - and that’s pretty far right. He dreams of a Germany full of buxom German girls and brawny German boys doing their German jobs for Germans during the day and enjoying their good German Bier und Wurst at night. In his ideal Germany, there is no room for all the swarthy foreigners who take German jobs and commit foreigner-crimes and generally water down the formerly pure German gene pool.

Not surprisingly, Stoiber has said that he would welcome an Austrian coalition with Jörg Haider.

The other member states of the EU are discussing the possibility of politically ostracizing Austria if Haider gets into the government. Israel has already threatened to pull out their ambassador, and other countries have mentioned doing the same thing.

I’m comforted by the fact that the rest of the EU recognizes Haider for what he is, and at first I agreed with the idea of giving Austria the political silent treatment. Dealing openly with Haider as a politician seems to legitimize him.

On the other hand, if Austria is left alone with Haider and all the people who voted for him, the country could fester and feed on itself, turning into something even more nasty. Perhaps it is better to pull Haider out into the light, to expose him to the rest of the world, however hard that may be. By not dealing with him, he gains a sort of power. If he’s isolated, it’s as if the rest of the world is afraid to touch him, afraid that his persuasive charm is so convincing that they don’t stand a chance against him. Austria’s political isolation could almost be a victory for Haider.

The most frightening thing about Haider and Stoiber is that people fall for them. Haider is the focus of a lot of negative speculation at the moment, but I don’t hear a lot of people talking about the fact that hundreds of thousands of Austrians voted for this man.

But Haider isn’t the real problem. He’s just the tip of the iceberg. He’s obviously representative of a lot of Austrians (by far not all - I hope), and he talks about things that a lot of people think but just haven’t trusted themselves to say - not outside of the bar or the Kaffeeklatsch anyway.

Both Haider and Stoiber have the ability to draw the worst out of people. When someone in power plays on uncertainty and the fear of “the other” (a very effective political tactic), they legitimize the hidden racist sentiments of numerous people. When such fears are seemingly confirmed, it then becomes acceptable for the general populace to openly spew sentiments worthy of the Nazis without being criticized for it.

I’ve seen this happen in Germany, thanks to Stoiber, and I can only imagine that the same thing goes on in Austria. Both men scratch the clean, shiny surface of their respective societies and reveal the filth underneath. This would be a good thing if they exposed the filth for what it is - filth. But they feed on society’s filth, they get their power from it. They make the filth seem clean and shiny, pure and white, safe and comfortable. And the crowds go wild.

Unlike Germany, Austria has gotten off fairly easily since World War II. Whereas Germany is still being made to flagellate itself for the Holocaust (as it should), no one (besides the Germans) talks about the fact that Hitler was Austrian. Whereas neo-Nazi activity in Germany is touted as the beginnings of the Fourth Reich, no one talks about the fact that the Austrians were as rabidly fascist as the Germans.

After all, “Anschluss" doesn’t mean “invasion".

When people think “Austria", people think “Alps", people think “Mozart", people think “Viennese cafes”. Maybe it’s about time people take a closer look at the idyllic little country before rushing off to vacation there. Maybe it’s about time to consider the implications of a population that oh-so-democratically votes for a man who has met with “veterans" of the Waffen-SS and who has openly praised the employment policy in the Third Reich.

There’s a lesson here that Americans apparently could stand to learn as well as we come up to the presidential election: don’t buy the hype.

I’ve actually read interviews in which people have said that they supported Bill Bradley’s policies but just found John McCain so much more charismatic that they planned to vote for McCain instead.

Wake up, people! Use your brains! You can’t successfully run a country on charisma alone, so take a look at what’s behind all the wittiness and charm. Politicians are trying to sell you something - make sure that they’re not using their charisma to sell you filth.

And don’t trust anyone with a televangelist smile.

Further reading…