Popular Support
The federation presented its own lists for the 2006 general election, obtaining 2.6% of votes, and winning 18 seats (9 for SDI, 7 for the Radicals, one for Lanfranco Turci and one for Salvatore Buglio) in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Senate.
This was not an encouraging result, indeed a bad one, considering that the Radicals alone scored 2.3% both at the 2001 general election and at the 2004 European Parliament election, while the Socialists had an electoral force of 2-3% in regional and local elections.
In particular, it seems that the Radicals lost votes to Forza Italia in their Northern strongholds (as Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia), while the Socialists did the same in favour of the Olive Tree coalition in their Southern strongholds (as Abruzzo, Campania, Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria). The table below shows how the two parties were not able to secure the favor of their usual voters, so that the Rose in the Fist scored less than Radicals alone in the North and the Socialists alone in the South.
| Rad 2004 | SDI 2005 | Rad-SDI 2006 | |
| Piedmont | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| Lombardy | 2.7 | 2.6 | |
| Veneto | 2.8 | 2.3 | |
| Friuli VG | 3.2 | 2.7 | |
| Abruzzo | 2.2 | 5.2 | 2.9 |
| Campania | 1.2 | 5.3 | 2.8 |
| Apulia | 1.7 | 4.0 | 3.1 |
| Basilicata | 1.5 | 3.8 | |
| Calabria | 0.9 | 6.8 | 4.3 |
Read more about this topic: Rose In The Fist
Famous quotes related to popular support:
“You are, I am sure, aware that genuine popular support in the United States is required to carry out any Government policy, foreign or domestic. The American people make up their own minds and no governmental action can change it.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)