Fidesz launches campaign against Jobbik

A conservative and a moderate centrist commentator wonder if Fidesz’s campaign against Jobbik which targets elderly people will prove successful. 

In late July, Jobbik leader Gábor Vona accused Fidesz of manipulating pensioners. Mr Vona said that elderly Fidesz supporters often confronted him ‘with hate in their eyes and drainage water flowing from their mouths’. Last week, Fidesz launched a campaign addressed at pensioners in which the governing party accuses Gábor Vona of denigrating elderly people and asks pensioners to remember this when casting their votes in the 2018 Parliamentary election.

In Heti Válasz, András Zsuppán thinks that the Fidesz phone campaign is a very simplistic propaganda tool. The conservative columnist suspects that the simplifying and distorting language of the campaign may alienate conservative intellectuals – but could prove effective in mobilizing under-educated elderly people.

Gábor Török in a short comment notes that the Fidesz phone campaign is nothing more manipulative and simplistic than most political ads. The moderate political analyst, however, believes that the campaign may backfire, as the attack on Jobbik’s leader sends the message to voters that Fidesz fears Jobbik and considers it as its main challenger.

Tags: 2018, Fidesz, Jobbik, pensioners