Populism gains in The Netherlands, despite Wilders’ seeming failure – Allah's Willing Executioners

Geert Wilders blew it when he quit the Dutch government in June, thereby precipitating last week’s snap election. That doesn’t mean the populist right is in trouble – quite the opposite.
Wilders ostensibly withdrew his party, the Freedom Party (PVV), from the four-party government because he was frustrated his coalition partners were not going far enough on his signature policy, immigration restriction. But naked political calculation might also have been behind his decision, as polls showed the most moderate party in the coalition, the New Social Contract, had lost almost all of its support.
He could reasonably have thought that a new vote would return PVV to power without the need to compromise as much with a group that only joined him grudgingly.
That hope was foiled, though, by a few developments. First, all of the other coalition parties said they would not form a coalition with him again. Dutch voters who wanted dramatic change knew then that a vote for Wilders would likely be …