Played out against the backdrop of last week's horrific terrorist assault on the transportation networks of Madrid, Sunday's elections in Spain offered voters a clear, blunt choice between a party that chose to side with George W. Bush's dangerously misguided occupation of Iraq and a party that promised to distance Spain from the American president and his policies.

You can have hope again. This is some of the most wonderful news for democracy, and for the world, in a long time.

Veteran Wisconsin legislator and activist Midge Miller

The people of Spain chose wisely. And Americans should applaud the result.

"You can have hope again," said veteran Wisconsin legislator and activist Midge Miller, one of the ablest proponents for using the ballot box to thwart illegitimate leaders, after learning of the election results from Spain. "This is some of the most wonderful news for democracy, and for the world, in a long time."

Spaniards voted out the conservative governing party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who made Spain a partner of President Bush and the invasion and occupation of Iraq. To replace Aznar's Popular Party and the prime minister's hand-picked successor, Spanish voters selected the Socialist Party of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who promised to steer Spain away from partnership with the Bush administration and back toward historic alliances with France and Germany.

Zapatero ran as an anti-war candidate, describing Aznar's alliance with Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in support of the preemptive war on Iraq as "a total error." And he promised to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq if control of the occupation is not ceded to the United Nations by June 30.

The Socialist candidate's message resonated well and widely in a country where more than 90 percent of the citizenry has expressed opposition to Spanish involvement in President Bush's "coalition of the willing."

Ultimately, however, Zapatero won a convincing upset victory because Spaniards were forced to recognize that their government's support for the Bush-led occupation of Iraq was making them dramatically less safe. Thursday's Madrid terrorist bombings, which appear to have been the work of al-Qaida, caused a rapid reassessment of the government's approach to the war in Iraq in particular, and the war on terror in general. And the conclusion on the part of a solid plurality of voters was that Spain had become a target for violence because of their government's alignment with the Bush administration.

Spaniards recognized that their future will be safer and more secure if their country aligns itself with nations such as France and Germany, which opposed the invasion of Iraq and which have pushed for a more informed and thoughtful approach to genuine threats from terrorist groupings.

Should Americans feel troubled by this result? Yes, and no.

Americans must recognize the painful reality that the Spanish voting illustrates: The Bush administration's actions have done more to create danger than to end it. And, in so doing, they have created deep rifts not between the United States and longtime allies, such as Germany and France, but also between the United States and the people of countries where out-of-touch leaders have aligned with Bush.

At the same time, Americans should celebrate the results from Spain because they serve as an indication that democracy is still a powerful tool for confronting wrongheaded leaders. The ballot box can, and must, be used to remove leaders who guide nations in wrong and dangerous directions.

Just as the Spanish people voted out a bad government in March, so the American people can vote out a bad government in November.

Copyright 2003 The Capital Times

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