See also: Dangerous Times: The Rage of Beppe Grillo. The choices facing Italy's voters are not so much a question of right vs. left but rather austerity vs. profligacy. And the entrance of a comic turned politician into the race has thrown the election into chaos. Associated Press: Fellow EU countries and investors are watching closely, as the decisions that Italy makes over the next several months promise to have a profound impact on whether Europe can decisively put out the flames of its financial crisis. Greece's troubles in recent years were enough to spark a series of market panics. With an economy almost 10 times the size of Greece's, Italy is simply too big a country for Europe, and the world, to see fail. Leading the electoral pack is Pier Luigi Bersani, a former communist who has shown a pragmatic streak in supporting tough economic reforms spearheaded by incumbent Mario Monti. On Bersani's heels is Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul seeking an unlikely political...(Read Full Post)