[Rugoz]

Emmanuel Macron just sounds like another mainstream politician.

He's a centrist, but he has a lot of interesting ideas, which is always a good thing in a politician.

Le Pen's program is boring and has some real stinkers in it, like reducing net migration to 10k (ridiculous for a country the size of France), a second aircraft carrier (wtf?), lowering the retirement age to 60 (while people are getting older and older). Add to that unrealistic stuff that will never happen while France remains an EU member (the French will never vote for a Frexit).

[Beren]

And now this:

Le Pen Quits Party To Distance Herself From Its Extremist Fringe

The far-right candidate temporarily stepped down so, she said, she could represent all French people.



French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen announced on Monday that she’s temporarily stepping down as leader of her party, the far-right National Front.

“Tonight, I am no longer the president of the National Front. I am the presidential candidate, the one who wants to gather all the French around a project of hope, of prosperity, of security,” Le Pen said on French public television on Monday.

On Twitter, she said she wants to be the candidate for “all French [people].”

Le Pen and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron were the two winners in France’s first round of voting Sunday and will face each other in the final run-off on May 7. Macron won 23.86 percent of the votes while Le Pen received 21.43 percent. The third and forth candidates, Francois Fillon and Jean-Luc Mélenchon were not far behind with 19.94 and 19.64 percent of the votes.

Le Pen’s decision is presumably an attempt to distance herself from the National Front party’s fringe and extremist past in order to appeal to a wider range of voters. As a candidate, Le Pen has promised to strictly limit immigration, leave the European Union, establish a national currency, and ban public expressions of religion. Despite her far-right policies, Le Pen has still gone to great lengths to distance herself and her party from its more extremist roots.

In 2015, she even expelled her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the party in 1972, after he made a statement denying the Holocaust. She’s since tried to forge alliances with Jewish communities in France.

Despite this, it seems she hasn’t fully been able to reform the party’s image. Two weeks ago, Le Pen made a statement downplaying France’s role in the Holocaust, which caused outrage among French voters and her political rivals and reignited arguments over the party’s anti-Semitism.

Macron, her opponent, said, “Some have forgotten that Marine Le Pen is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen.” Historian Valérie Igounet, who published a book on the National Front’s supporters, told Foreign Policy that while the face of the party may have changed, it’s still considered extremist by the majority of French voters. “French citizens are not dupes,” she said.

Meanwhile, not one of Le Pen’s political rivals have called on their supporters to vote for Le Pen. Instead, they’ve largely united against her in support of her opponent, Macron. (The far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came in fourth place on Sunday, said he would ask his supporters who they prefer.) Polls predict Macron will defeat Le Pen with 60 percent of the votes in the final election round on May 7.

Whether it works out for her or not (rather not), it's a risky and desperate move anyways.

[Stormsmith]

Whether it works out for her or not (rather not), it's a risky and desperate move anyways.

Stranger things have happened

As a woman you should pretend better Frollein. Also, do you seriously believe that could ever be enough to win the internet asshole award for me?

Agreed

[Frollein]

As a woman you should pretend better Frollein.

Are you trying sexism now?

Also, do you seriously believe that could ever be enough to win the internet asshole award for me? Even PoFo alone is too dense for that!

You do seem to think that it's difficult to be an asshole. It isn't - you're proof.

[Beren]

Are you trying sexism now?

No, I'm actually flirting.

You do seem to think that it's difficult to be an asshole. It isn't - you're proof.

It's not difficult, but winning the internet asshole award is a really hard task to accomplish I think. I wouldn't believe assuming you really hope for a big terrorist attack in France during the next two weeks just because you think it could help Le Pen's campaign makes me such an asshole. I'm sure I'm not alone with that assumption.

[QatzelOk]

Here I always thought the French were independent minded people and didn't want to be occupied. Well, I guess they don't mind if one day they become occupied by Islam.

Macron represents the banksters. So that's who will be continuing to occupy France if he's elected.

Whether it works out for her or not (rather not), it's a risky and desperate move anyways.

Macron did the same thing when he fled the sinking ship of the French (fake) Socialist Party a few months ago.

[AFAIK]

In a parliamentary system only the coalition parties are represented in the executive. What's the difference?

You can't do PR in a single member seat. Electing one representative in an one seat constituency requires you to revert to FPTP.

[Hindsite]

i just heard Rachael Maddow of MSNBC tell another lie. NBC must be against Le Pen because of Donald Trump's support, so Maddow claims Le Pen would not only pull out of the EU but also out of NATO. Now here is the lie; she said no country in NATO has pulled out of NATO. I know that to be false because when I was there at S.H.A.P.E. Belgium, France was no longer a participant during the whole 3 years and 4 months that I served there. I was supposed to leave at the end of 3 years, but there was a budget problem and they delayed my family an me from leaving to go to my special assignment with DIA at the Pentagon for 4 months.

[Beren]

Macron did the same thing when he fled the sinking ship of the French (fake) Socialist Party a few months ago.

He didn't leave a few months ago.

In August 2015, Macron stated that he was no longer a member of the PS and was now an Independent.

Which means he did it in time. He also wasn't the president of the Socialist Party and his father wasn't the founding father of the Socialist Party, so he's not associated with the Socialist Party as much as Le Pen is associated with the National Front. It's too little too late, even ridiculous and pathetic I'd say. It's also supposed to be a temporary move, which may turn out to be counterproductive or rather won't have any effects at all.

[Rugoz]

I found Le Pen's 144-point program. Doesn't look too bad actually. Could be worse. Previously I only saw a short version which looked kind of pathetic compared to Macron's. The stinkers are still part of it of course.

By the way, where's Harmattan and co.? All the Frenchies have left.

[Beren]

We have the final results and second-round projections based on them:

[QatzelOk]

He didn't leave a few months ago.


Which means he did it in time. He also wasn't the president of the Socialist Party and his father wasn't the founding father of the Socialist Party, so he's not associated with the Socialist Party as much as Le Pen is associated with the National Front. It's too little too late, even ridiculous and pathetic I'd say. It's also supposed to be a temporary move, which may turn out to be counterproductive or rather won't have any effects at all.

My mistake. He left the party when it was opportunistic for him to do so. And he's been in and out of the Socialist Party for his entire short career. He's whatever the pollsters tell him to be at any time.

What's great about Macron is that he doesn't stand for anything and he's cute.

We have a prime minister like that in Canada too. And Obama was like that as well. I even heard Macron talk about all the "hope" he represents - hope that a cute leader will always succeed just like the cute characters in TV sitcoms do.

I think Marine Le Pen was responding to the French electorate who, like many Western electorates, have been trained by their media to like empty suits with big smiles and no program. She basically said: "I may not have a program either!" in order to compete with the programless wonderchild of French banksters.

At this juncture in human history, we really need people with a program. Smiles are not really very useful except in Miss America pageants.

[Beren]

What's great about Macron is that he doesn't stand for anything and he's cute.

He stands for the EU and a deepening integration, which is the point here actually, and he's charming indeed.

If someone loves the details, then they can decide whether they prefer a 10,000 cap on immigration or 10,000 more police.

[QatzelOk]

He stands for the EU and a deepening integration, which is the point here actually, and he's charming indeed.

Standing for the status quo is like standing for nothing.

He has no solutions except "more of the same, but cuter."

This kind of politicians make life much worse for the lazy, lukewarm fuzzies who vote for them... by doing nothing. His cuteness only functions in calming the public's manufactured fear of change.

[Beren]

Standing for the status quo is like standing for nothing.

How is it like standing for nothing? You always must be a revolutionary to be standing for something? It's so '68-ish of you!

[QatzelOk]

How is it like standing for nothing? You always must be a revolutionary to be standing for something? It's so '68-ish of you!

Greece is full of smiling politicians who have been supporting the status quo for many years. Look where "not changing" got that nation.

France is in a similarly uncomfortable position. And so is the entire Earth.

Melenchon actually had a program to get France off of carbon fuels and out of the EU banking cartel. But like many Western consumers who get their opinions from commercial media.... France voted in a fragmented way in which the lukewarm nothing candidate did very well.

[Beren]

Melenchon actually had a program to get France off of carbon fuels and out of the EU banking cartel. But like many Western consumers who get their opinions from commercial media.... France voted in a fragmented way in which the lukewarm nothing candidate did very well.

He did very well because he doesn't want to get France out of the EU, even half of Melenchon's voters say they will vote for him in the second round. The French want to stay in the EU, and they want even more of it it seems, all the revolutionaries should face it.

[QatzelOk]

He did very well because he doesn't want to get France out of the EU, even half of Melenchon's voters say they will vote for him in the second round. The French want to stay in the EU, and they want even more of it it seems, all the revolutionaries should face it.

Unlike you, I don't claim to "know" what the French want regarding the EU. But the commercial media certainly wants France to stay in the EU.

Virtually every media commentator there is married to Macron. Just watch "15 minutes pour convaincre la France" interviews with Le Pen, Melenchon, Fillon and Macron to see the different treatments they get.

Macron is the Hillary Clinton of the French election. The commercial interests all LOVE HIM. Many semi-interested French voters (the ones who know nothing about politics) do what the media tells them to do. But that doesn't have much staying power. Macron is Hollande 2, and the French hated Hollande after he'd been in power for 2 months.

[Suntzu]

Seems to be another election, the people against the establishment. I hope the people win again.

[Beren]

Unlike you, I don't claim to "know" what the French want regarding the EU. But the commercial media certainly wants France to stay in the EU.

Unlike me you just believe the French are infantile people, even worse than Americans perhaps, influenced by the commercial media 100%, who can't be aware of what is good for them. They want the EU because it works better than anything before in Europe, so they reject the bastards who want to destroy it.