🇦🇹 Austrian Elections & Politics 6.0 - Upper Austria election: 26 Sept. 2021

[warandwar]

The Communists in Graz are very good at PR, with their politicians often being seen doing good deeds/walking the walk and donating chunks of their salaries. Tender, for example, was effusive about them and always was glad when they did well, even though he is not a communist by any means.

The Milwaukee note is a good one: they are textbook sewer socialists.

They don't actually run any public services, so they are not "textbook" sewer socialists. They are orthodox Marxist-Leninists who were in a long fued w the Party's Eurocom wing, strangely enough.
Their main issue is housing - what powers do austrian cities have there? Could they build public housing on their own?

[warandwar]

From Der Standard

Shortly before the election, members of Nagl’s party, the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, had warned in drastic terms of what might happen if the communists were allowed to prevail in the election. A vote for the leftists, they said, was "a vote for chaos, terror and fear." They warned of mass unemployment. The term "Leningraz" even made the rounds.

And then, there was the ultimate victor of the elections, the head of the Communist Party of Graz (KPÖ) Elke Kahr, who had given the ÖVP apocalyptic nightmares, standing before the television cameras earlier in the day and answering questions about what she would do until the election results were announced. Her answer? She said she would use the time to finally do a bit of housework and wash a couple of loads of laundry. The beautiful weather, she insisted, was perfect for drying.

[warandwar]

For the record, Austrian communists are unreconstructed tankie nutters

No they aren't. Their main claim to fame has been using their legislative salaries to fund a rental assistence fund (and other activities). They are effective campaigners and it's silly to call them "nutters."

[warandwar]

I'll add that, rather disgracefully in my opinion, the KPÖ is anti-BDS.
https://m.jpost.com/international/austria-communist-party-rejects-bds-recalls-nazi-boycott-of-jews-684434

[warandwar]

I'll add that, rather disgracefully in my opinion, the KPÖ is anti-BDS.
https://m.jpost.com/international/austria-communist-party-rejects-bds-recalls-nazi-boycott-of-jews-684434

Most people don't think Austrians boycotting Jews was a particularly fortunate moment in history.

That's not what BDS is, but my main point is that it's rather silly to call them nutcases or w/e. If the point is to understand their support, we should be more precise.