One of the most successful campaign posters in history was that for Fidesz, the party of youthful, free market and pro-Western Hungarians in 1990. In an election that year to establish a new constitution that would mark the end of Communist rule, Fidesz' message was that voters should make a choice between the stolid old Communist ideology and the freedom policies promoted most strongly by the Fidesz Party. "Choose!", the poster insists, with a hilarious picture of two Communist leaders (the Soviets' Leonid Brezhnev and East Germany's Erich Honecker) giving each other an airport greeting smootch. The "choice" in the lower panel was an attractive young Hungarian couple wearing Fidesz buttons.
Fidesz originally was libertarian and limited to members under age 35. Over the years it eliminated its age restriction and moved toward overall center-right policies, emphasizing a pro-growth, lower-tax. After the primary elections just completed, the party seems to be set for a majority victory, not just a plurality, in the final round. The Socialist opposition that united most of the left is fighting for second place with a far right, populist party, Jobbik. The Socialist collapse and the rise of Jobbik is what seems to have captured most press interest, but the real story is Fidesz and its program.
Fidesz leader Viktor Orban stated today, "The most important step will be tax cuts, I have been for this for years and I will do my utmost to make it happen."
"The second is ... a comprehensive attack on bureaucracy."
If Orban and his party succeed, gain a clear majority in the final election round and are able to implement their program, it should provide a good contemporary example of supply side economics in action.
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