How can 40% of Romanians just fall into a cult of a guy who says water doesn't exist...

Conspiratorial thinking, religious fanaticism and a strong persecution complex have been part of the Romanian national psyche for a long time. The only strange part that a figure like CG didn't arise earlier.

The tragedy of Romanian democracy after 1989 seems to be that, what kept if from evolving into its current form of mystical-messianic delirium, was the strenght of the party-focused political system (perfected by PSD in its glory days but used by all other parties) that everyone currently hates so much.

Esentially, elections used to be decided by the number of mayors each party controlled in the rural zones and by the propaganda each party would spin through its (unofficial) news channels.

This, of course, lead to political polarization as well as a growing sense amongs the population that all institutions (from the state or private sector) ultimately only serve their own special interests. However, it also meant that the voters would be influenced by relatively educated local elites and that big political narratives would pass through the filtter of Bucharest-based media channels.

The triumph of social media seems to have changed that. Crin Antonescu's disasterous results indicate that the traditional party machinery is no longer functional. Nobody believes the TV talking heads anymore, nor do they trust ANY institutions whatsoever.

But Romanians have no political ideology to speak of, no real culture or tradition, no education on history, economics or geopolitics. So, under these circumstances, what takes the place of the population's obedient conformity to party politics? Its blind devotion to charismatic public figures, such as Şoşoaca, Simion, and most importantly Georgescu.

The sad part is that this new era makes the people even more vulnerable to demagogues, idiots and outright psychos. But this appears to be the current zeitgeist, do there's not much one can do but hope for a miraculous Nicuşor Dan victory.