Take Hope from Hungary’s Peaceful Revolution
Orbán taught Republicans his playbook of how to roll back democracy to consolidate power, and now Hungarians are giving us the playbook on how to eject an autocrat via a peaceful revolution.
It’s been described as a bombshell election, an earthquake, and a stunning defeat. Delicious words of hope that you can almost taste.
They are words of hope for the USA.
As congratulations poured in for Hungary after what we called a huge win for the west, the Hungarian Socialist Deputy Leader called their political bombshell of a victory over Orbán a “peaceful revolution” and a “rebellion.”
… Like we can have here.
Significant Shift
Hungary’s election results are seen as a seismic shift, with congratulations pouring in from European leaders like Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron as Europe breathes a huge sigh of relief.
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Socialist Deputy Leader Thomas Harangozó saying the question was “Orbán or not, Putin or not…we have to take back this country to the western democratic parties’ way.”
Harangozó told France 24 the peaceful revolution was visible on the streets with people cheering in a festival atmosphere.
“Now everybody can see it. It’s a rebellion. It’s, it’s a peaceful revolution. What’s what happened today in Hungary, it’s not quiet revolution, as you can hear it. It’s, it’s like, like Festival on the streets. And it’s not in a party center. It’s on the streets as the way we came here. People were just pushing the horn in the car and people were cheering them. It’s just fantastic.”
People were chanting “Ruszkik haza!” or “Russians go home!” according to the AP, which pointed out this was “a phrase used widely during Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, and which had gained increasing currency amid Orbán’s drift toward Moscow.”
At his victory party along the Danube, center right Péter Magyar said, “Tonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn’t ask what their homeland could do for them — they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through.”
Watch the celebration of Hungarians after 16 years of oppression, suppression and attacks on freedom:
They Achieved This with Nearly 80% Voter Turnout!
Voter turnout in Hungary’s election “shattered records” in what turned out to be nearly 80% according to the National Election Office, which the AP reported was “a record number in any vote in Hungary’s post-Communist history.”
George Conway pointed out that their celebrations in the street are what Times Square will look like when Congress or a cheeseburger do its job (all bets on the cheeseburger given this Congress):
Yes, this can be us in the streets overcome with happiness at getting rid of an autocrat. We can do this.
Prioritizing Getting Rid of the Autocrat
I’m not suggesting that Americans need to go center right to win, although it should be noted that center right in Europe is often our mainstream left. And actually, I’d argue that going center right has not been a winner for a presidential candidate for a long time and Democrats should absolutely stop it.
But rather the point is that the strategy of prioritizing getting rid of the autocrat in order to restore western democratic values is a winner.
