You made an excellent point. I would add that the M.B. would have no hesitation to use violence to intimidate voters, or whatever else was needed to gain power. The “liberal democrats”, and other unorganized idealists were more constrained.
After I posted, it occurred to me that the term “liberal democrat” is likely to be misunderstood — especially in the U.S. and in countries where “Liberal Democratic” is the name of a political party. I used lower-case, to avoid confusion with actual political parties — but, on reflection, I don’t think that’s enough. In the U.S. “liberal democrat” has come to mean almost exactly the opposite of what I meant by the term. I turned to “Ask.Com” for a definition, that expresses what I meant. Here’s an excerpt:
“Liberal democracy is a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of liberalism. It is characterized by fair, free, and competitive elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, and the equal protection of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and political freedoms for all persons.”