Polish Americans Out Of Step With Poland's People
Classified Polnews
Contrary to the opinions of voters in Europe, were it up to Polish American voters, based on their preferences shown in the Polish elections, Poland's Kaczynski Government would not only have stayed in power, it would have taken majority control of the Sejm and Senat.
Chicago
Not Poland
Typical of voting all over the world, Polish Americans went to the voting stations in heavy numbers this year. It is reported that about five times more people voted this year than last year.
Of the over 27,000 that voted, 67% of them voted for the Kaczynski Law And Justice Party, 28% voted for Donald Tusk's Civic Platform and just 3.5% voted for LID.
Were those controlling votes, only the Law And Justice Party and Civic Platform be in the Government. And the Law And Justice Party would be in the majority.
The disconnect between the Polish American and the Polish people of Europe is remarkably wide considering that the current vote tally, with the American vote included, is about 41.5% for the Civic Platform and 32.1 for the Law And Justice Party with LID at 13% and PSL 8.9%.
The reasons for the disconnect may be directly related to the fact that Polish Americans have very little contact with the home country. They do not live and feel what Poland really is.
Polish American's, by reason of distance, are more likely to rely on media accounts of Poland while European Poles are more likely to rely on personal experience and a different collection of media accounts.
And in the current election, the internet and SMS in Poland played a big role in getting the young voters to the Pole.
Messages such as this one circulated in Poland but not in the United States. (This message is typical of the tone, but was actually received yesterday, after the election.) "Due of the current situation, your service "Allday wire-tapping" will be cancelled on your phone. This will lower your local phone costs by 20%. Congratulations. CBA"
The Law And Justice Party did get more votes than in the last election, but the grassroots electronic and telephone media campaigns in Europe brought out more than enough new voters to offset the gain. Those campaigns did not target American voters.
Polish Americans rely a great deal on Law And Justice Party supporter Polish Priest Taduesz Rydzyk of Radio Maria for information. If the fact that Americans as his largest income source is any indication of his influence on them, he may have been also partially responsible for the vote disparity.
The why of the disconnect is not settled, and it may be analyzed in depth by political consultants. But what is important now is to understand that it exists and it shows that Polish Americans, who abandoned Poland to live in the US, want something different than what many Polish people who have chosen to live in Poland want.
Chicago is a long way from Warsaw in more ways than one.
See also Poland's Elections Were A Clash Of Polish Civilizations
