ODS and ANO aren't so different

Bild tabloid of Germany asked on its front page today what more voters must do to make the government of Olaf Scholz understand that they want a change. The traffic-light coalition is under pressure like never before, Bild said. It isn't quite as urgent in the CR, but the trend is the same. Voters are turning increasingly to "populist" and "extremist" parties that, at least in the view of these voters, talk a better game. Like Scholz, PM Petr Fiala has bet everything on attacking these parties and denigrating their voters. In the Senate last week Fiala said that extremists and populists are getting stronger in Europe and are trying to gain a share of power wherever they can. Yet by including ANO in this group, he's making it look far more populist and extremist than it actually is. If ODS takes a sound drubbing from ANO in the regional elections on Sept. 20-21 as expected, Fiala might want to shift to a tactic that emphasizes the subtle differences between the two parties, instead of the supposed big ones.