Steeling Zeman's thunder

ODS Chair Petr Fiala tried so hard to prevent Miloš Zeman from winning reelection that he failed to realize how much he was contributing to it. As part of what we called the rolling-thunder strategy, Zeman sought over a number of months to unite the voters of ANO, ČSSD, SPD and KSČM behind him, and Fiala's no-tolerance approach to working with Andrej Babiš drove precisely these voters into Zeman's arms. Fiala would have done better to announce on Thur. that he was prepared to strike a deal with Babiš after all. That would have sown doubt among Zeman's target voters. Instead, Fiala accused ANO, SPD and KSČM of demonstrating their strength in Parliament by killing ODS's bills. Music to Zeman's ears. Acting ČSSD Chair Milan Chovanec also did exactly what Zeman needed, but probably intentionally. He accused ANO on Thur. of having a secret deal with SPD and the Communists. And whad'ya know? These are the voters that got Zeman elected.