And the far right fall short of expectations.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/g...s-dutch-election-what-s-next-populism-n734301
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch voters showed Europe that populism isn't always inevitable.
The poor showing by firebrand Geert Wilders in the Netherlands election has energized traditional parties across Europe from left and right. But it's unlikely to extinguish the anti-immigrant, anti-establishment sentiment that has been blazing around Europe.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister who had pushed the electorate through five years of tough economic measures, emerged victorious in a bruising battle with Wilders, whose relentless invective against all things Muslim and anything from the European Union failed to earn him the breakthrough that many had come to count on as a given.
After boosts in Britain and the United States over the past year and Wednesday's setback in the Netherlands, populism now heads to France for its next test of political viability. Now it is for Marine Le Pen of the National Front to carry the torch in presidential elections starting next month.
When French, German, Italian and Bulgarian voters cast ballots in the year ahead, they won't be out to mimic Dutch voters. Instead, they'll be driven as much by local issues as global concerns.
The challenge now for candidates like France's Le Pen is to keep up the momentum of her gospel against immigrants, the political elite and European unity. It has resonated so widely that she's likely to come out on top of the first round of presidential voting April 23, though is much less likely to win the May 7 final round.
And the challenge for Europe's more moderate candidates — like Le Pen's chief rival, independent Emmanuel Macron — is to reconnect with voters alienated by EU bureaucracy and frustrated by economic stagnation. They could also take some lessons from the Dutch.
