That certainly helped, as did his tapping into a wave of anger over institutional bailouts and into the financial frustration being felt by so many.

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On Monday evening, when the allegations were made that Milly Dowler's phone may have been hacked, a wave of anger swept through Twitter and Facebook.

BBC: Social media v the News of The World

Hard-right candidates are riding a wave of popular anger, but they may not perform best in November.

ECONOMIST: Primary elections

EU's refusal, at a meeting in Luxembourg shortly before Mr Ecevit's government took office, to put Turkey on a list of candidates to join the club had set off a wave of bitter anti-western anger among Turks that was impossible even for a pro-European like Mr Cem to ignore.

ECONOMIST: Ismail Cem, a Turkish strategist