[alephnerd]

Makes sense. I'm very curious as to why Romania was caught so off guard in comparison to Moldova despite a very similar disinfo campaign barely a few weeks ago against Sandu (heck, I'd assume this disinfo campaign used the exact same personnel).

On which note, was there any reuse found in comparison to the campaign in Moldova?

I'm predicating this on Georgescu's anti-NATO stance (that said, I don't really follow EE politics that closely).

[cbg0]

We don't have all the answers yet and there's a bunch of speculation that the intelligence services were a bit incompetent or even supported him in hopes of taking votes away from other candidates, but things may have gotten a bit out of control and they underestimated his popularity.

Georgescu's stance wasn't super well known to most of his supporters and it's not what was being pushed, he's mostly flag-waiving, talking about sovereignty and God, not really saying much of substance, but he's palatable if you don't know his views and he was something fresh compared to the other candidates that were more known, thus giving him a boost among anti-establishment types.

He's not completely new to the scene as he was touted as potential PM by a minority political party at some point, but they also distanced themselves from him to clean up their own anti-EU image.

[throw_pm23]

To be honest, I think this guy just had more charisma. He really feels like a very natural salesman, with a smooth voice, gray hair, catchy turns of phrases, etc. While I think what he said was ultimately shallow, I see why many felt hypnotized by him. You can check out his video swimming in an icy lake, talking about your immune system just being an extension of your freedom as an individual, etc. He is definitely talented as a cult leader.