[HN] Politicians believe voters to be more conservative than they are

I'll bite, even if I maybe shouldnt...

Im unsure how to take this article. On one hand, I would be glad to see politicans come to realize they are out of step with voters. On the other hand, im not sure they really care.

Call me cynical, but I find it odd that this study assumes that policians want to listen to their consitituents instead of pursuing greed and power.

Maybe the politicians are being elected on one issue, and the voters are ignoring everything else. (as many do here in america) But, as long as people are voting for them, even as they're becoming increasingly radical with their policy, i would imagine they would continue to push the envelope until their voter base stops electing them to office.

While i admit that its definitely possible that the politicians in europe are just...well, better people, im not sure thats typcially the case when it comes to most policies that any far right canidate wants to implement. Or i could possibly be a poster child for the types of views articles like this are trying to change.

No, im not extremely knowledgeable about European politics, but from what i have seen, there seems to be a common ideological thread among these far right canadates / elected officials. Anti immigration, perhaps boardering on rascism, nationalistic, anti lbgt+, seemingly pro russian (unsure if the ukraine invasion changed thier minds), with possible semi fascist / authoritarian tendencies / roots. And if they're anything like the far right movement in the us, they may also be anti woman and anti education, and pro business / anti worker. To me, these are not innocent policy mistakes these politicians are making, they are decisive stances with particular aims.

I do take issue with the examples the author gives at the end.

The study that was linked about correcting misconceptions of violence had nothing to do with politicians correcting their views. From what i understand, the authors of the study were informing regular people of their misconceptions. Maybe i missed the part where it explicitly states that elected officals participated in this survey, perhaps they think that the term "partisan" means elected officals, when i believe the definition refers to any person that strongly supports one party.

Also while i cannot claim to understand the protests from the perspective of a french person (and maybe someone could correct me here) i understood that the presidents actions to raise the pension age happened in spite of popular opinion, not because of his perception of its popularity.

Also forgive any typos or imcomplete sentences. I started this reply, got distracted a couple times, and hit send half asleep.