French election looks like another setback for Europe's left

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/23/french-election-looks-like-another-setback-for-europes-left.html
Published: Apr 23, 2017
Author: Jacob Pramuk
Post Date: 2017-04-23 19:43:55 by Justified
Views: 3952

When Socialist French presidential candidate Benoit Hamon conceded Sunday after failing to qualify for a runoff, he called it a "historic blow" to his party.

It marks just the latest setback for the mainstream left across Europe — a retreat that has been largely missed by media reports as they focus on far-right leaders, whether they win or lose.

Hamon, part of the same party as incumbent President Francois Hollande, appears set to finish fifth in the vote based on early indications from pollsters. Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen looked set to finish first and second, respectively, according to exit polls, setting up a runoff next month. Nationalists vs. Globalists

Old guard liberals are fading across the continent, as politics become a battle between nationalist populists and more global centrists.

The British Labour Party — Britain's second-largest — lost 26 seats in the House of Commons in 2015 elections, while the leftist Liberal Democrats dropped 49 seats. The Conservative Party — already Britain's largest, and containing both global and populist elements — gained 24 seats.

In the Netherlands this year, centrist Prime Minister Mark Rutte kept his job ahead of far-right Geert Wilders and the Party for Freedom. Media coverage focused on Wilders' defeat, and it largely ignored what happened to Dutch liberals: The country's mainstream left Labour Party dropped 29 seats in the parliamentary elections.

In a March, Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats won a regional election in Germany's Saarland state, while the center-left Social Democrats saw their vote share dip slightly from the area's last election in 2012. The result by the Social Democrats was by no means catastrophic, but some saw it as a possible bellwether for the national election later this year.

—CNBC's Ted Kemp contributed to this report.

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#1: interpreter    To: Justified (#0)

Excellent post. In my 2017 in Bible Prophecy, I predicted all this when I said the EU would be disbanded in 2017, and it is fast happening. Let me add a specific prediction right here, right now. Le Pen will be the next president of France, and within a few days after she takes office, the EU will be thrown into the trash bin of history.

interpreter posted on 2017-04-24 08:13:00   Reply   Private Reply

#2: Justified    To: interpreter (#1)

Excellent post. In my 2017 in Bible Prophecy, I predicted all this when I said the EU would be disbanded in 2017, and it is fast happening. Let me add a specific prediction right here, right now. Le Pen will be the next president of France, and within a few days after she takes office, the EU will be thrown into the trash bin of history.

I do think there is too many progressives in France and are willing to die to prove they are wrong. It would be great if Marine La Pen would win but I do not see it.

Justified posted on 2017-04-24 08:17:15   Reply   Private Reply

#3: Vicomte13    To: interpreter (#1)

Let me add a specific prediction right here, right now. Le Pen will be the next president of France, and within a few days after she takes office, the EU will be thrown into the trash bin of history.

No she won't be.

Macron already got more votes than she did.

Everybody who wants Marine Le Pen already voted for her. She came in second place.

In the next tour, people who voted for the other candidates will shift their votes or stay home.

What does that mean?

It means that Fillon's votes will go to Macron - both believe in Europe. It means that Melanchon's and the Socialists' voters will vote for Macron to avoid the victory of the far Right.

Had Le Pen won the first round with a big number, she would have had a chance. But she came in second, by a number similar to the others. She has no chance.

That's a pity, because I would like to see her win, but she's not going to. Zero chance.

Vicomte13 posted on 2017-04-24 09:21:36   Reply   Private Reply

#4: interpreter    To: Vicomte13 (#3)

You don't seem to realize that every time there's a terrorist attack, many thousands of French voters switch their vote to Le Pen. And I can pretty much guarantee you that there will be another major attack or 2 before the run-off election, and then Macron wont have a snowball's chance in hell of winning that one.

interpreter posted on 2017-04-25 09:58:26   Reply   Private Reply

#5: Vicomte13    To: interpreter (#4)

You don't seem to realize that every time there's a terrorist attack, many thousands of French voters switch their vote to Le Pen. And I can pretty much guarantee you that there will be another major attack or 2 before the run-off election, and then Macron wont have a snowball's chance in hell of winning that one.

Macron will crush Le Pen on May 7th.

For my part, I would prefer to see Marine Le Pen win. But she isn't going to.

Vicomte13 posted on 2017-04-25 14:55:54   Reply   Private Reply