Toxic Dems vs. Bumbling Bushes, and an In Outlet

Just when it seemed like Hungary had recovered from the bitter election of April 2002, the foul winds of hyper-partisan politics have again begun to blow over Budapest.

Due to a tightly compressed schedule of presidential primaries and caucuses, the epic battle to remove George W. Bush from the White House has finally begun in earnest. Now, thanks to a handful of civic-minded expats, the war is about to come to an American near you.

For the first time since Yanks started colonizing Hungary in earnest a decade ago, resident Democrats have begun to organize themselves under the banner of Democrats Abroad, a worldwide association of, well, Democrats living abroad. By doing so they will be running up against a small but feisty clan of Republicans Abroad who for the past several elections have worked to make sure that Hungary stays in the "R" column.

While Hungary's Democrats have yet to formally anoint a leader, several local Dems have begun to lay the groundwork for this year's campaign.

"We just created our email list today, and already we have more than the Republicans", says Daniel Poisson, who in his non-political life is head of foreign trade group PMD Kft. "We have 20. That's more than I thought".

Twenty votes may not seem like much in a country of 280 million, but considering the photo-finish in Florida in 2000, it's a whole lot better than nothing.

According to Poisson, some of the most motivated troops on his side are likely to come from among the ranks of Central European University, whose benefactor George Soros recently made a big splash by saying that getting rid of Bush was the "central focus" of his life. Yet while no fan of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Poisson says he is already looking beyond November 2.

"I'm not joining Democrats Abroad or starting it up [in Budapest] just to get Bush. I'm hoping to create a political organization so that people can get involved."

Poisson, who is known to his many friends as "Fish", adds that many of these friends are Republicans. This may explain why his pick of the Democratic presidential field is Senator John Edwards, a sunny southerner who has skimped on the kind of anti-Bush "red meat" that committed partisans savor. It may also cause a bit of tension within the DA ranks, because just as in America, many local Democrats are keen to wage out-and-out jihad.

"They don't just dislike Bush – they hate him," PR whiz and Republicans Abroad co-chair Julianna Gulden notes.

At the same time, local Bush-haters seem to loath the man so much they are apparently willing to defy party tradition and join together for the big win. For the time being, this means learning to live with Senator John Forbes Kerry, the politico most likely to be lowered into the steel cage for the fight-to-the-death match against the Toxic Texan.

This is not as easy as it looks. A somber-looking hombre from Stink's adopted home state of Massachusetts, Kerry has the political courage of Péter Medgyessy, the humility of Viktor Orbán, and the integrity of József Torgyan. He's also a French-speaking demi-billionaire, thanks to Swiss boarding school and a handy marriage to the widow of one of his former Senate colleagues. In other words, a hard guy to get fully behind.

"Of course he's an ass," one loyal local Dem confessed me the other night over a beer. "But at least he can pronounce 'nuclear'." (If you hadn't noticed, Bush pronounces nuclear nookyoolar, as in "Hey, general, hand me that briefcase fulla secret codes so'zn I can order up a nookyoolar strike on Europe, wherever that is.")

Despite all this bad blood, it appears that the first major public gathering of Budapest Democrats will be in a room at least partly full of Republicans, as both sides are cooperating to organize a joint event in early April aimed at increasingly voter registration. According to resident Republican chairman Steve O'Connor, in addition to a panel discussion and other opportunities for Elephants and Donkeys to bray at each other, the carnival will feature personnel from the embassy offering assistance on a range of issues of interest to American exiles. Perhaps they thinks that once local expats start to vote, they'll start paying their taxes, too.

Speaking of Bush hatred, we hear from a friend that a member of America's extended first family recently failed to impress a group of do-gooders working at the Regional Environmental Center, the Szentendre-based NGO working to green up Central and Eastern Europe. Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Hungary (and Bush cousin) George Herbert Walker, Nancy Bush Ellis, the aunt of President Bush and sister of George H.W. Bush, paid a courtesy call at the REC, which boasts a building named for the elder Bush. According to our spy, the delegation entered a large meeting of busy environmentals, making everyone in the room stop what they were doing and engage in what I can only imagine was a wrist-slitting round of pointless pleasantries. I know it's the thought that's supposed to count, but sending the patrician aunt of the world's alleged polluter-in-chief to drop by for a chat with a group of environmental activists from the poorer bits of Europe doesn't strike me as particularly thoughtful. In fact, it's enough to make one long for the diplomatic genius of Peter Tufo.

You know a secret is good when those who are in on it threaten you with bodily harm if you spill the beans.

Well, maybe I'm just a masochist, but I think it's high time to blow the lid off what has become a matter of national security-like confidentiality among some of Budapest's better-dressed women: the Max Mara factory outlet on Csepel Island.

A spacious and tidy shed in the small hamlet of Szigetszentmiklos, the store is actually a branch of the Diffusione Tessile chain of Italy. And in an age where many manufacturers' outlet shops are actually normal retail shops posing as factory stores, this one is the real deal, complete with ripped-out designer labels, oddball styles and sizes, and deep, deep, discounts. It's the kind of place where, if you really dig, you are guaranteed to come up with at least one terrifically underpriced gem you would never otherwise get a chance to own. On a recent trip Stinkné snagged a fabulous three-quarters length check wool/silk blend overcoat for Ft 20,000, a fraction of what it would have cost anywhere else. I can almost understand why she vowed to knock my block off if I even vaguely alluded to it in the column. Hell, they even take credit cards. So a few hours and a friend and see what you find. Even if you come up dry, at least you can say you've been to Csepel.

But whatever you do, remember that you didn't hear it here first.