Voting for the lesser evil
The idea that politics is a game between two "lesser evils" is slowly gaining traction. The idea is best summed up in Indro Montanelli’s advice to the Italian electorate from the 1950's right up to the 1980's: “Hold your noses and vote for Christian Democracy.” This attitude did little to prevent the collapse of the Italian first republic in the early 1990s.
My article in The Times of Malta (01/III/2017) explores some of these themes in view of the upcoming electoral tests throughout the European continent:
"The idea that a candidate or a political party is a lesser evil is worrying. The term itself implies that politics is somehow evil. The understanding of politics as both a vocation and a public service is slowly eroding. Such concepts are perceived to be utopic rather than realistic.
Voting for a lesser evil makes convenience, rather than conviction, the main currency of public life. A quick glance at the main ongoing political debates reveals that many last-minute u-turns have exacerbated the role of political convenience."