This time he's having a gratuitous swipe at Germany, too. (That doesn't fit too well with his pretended groovy friendship with Angela.) Will the media notice this any more than the rest? Not that I can see for the moment...
After Le Pen's deliberate reference to Vichy in a speech this week, there was also Sarkozy's promise to create a Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, which has more than an echo of Vichyness about it. Ségolène Royal is at least reacting sharply to that - so the media have to talk about it a bit...
It's a stupid policy anyway. The opinion polls may still be showing Sarko at a sweet percentage compared to Le Pen, the chickens will come home to roost in the first round. Voters who really agree with what Sarko is saying will vote... Le Pen in Round One. By validating and echoing far-right positions, Nicolas is working for Jean-Marie.
It's a good line to push. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Note though that current French commissioner Jacques Barrot has totally sold out to the neolibs on transportation and macroeconomic policies. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Note though that current French commissioner Jacques Barrot has totally sold out to the neolibs on transportation and macroeconomic policies.
Bayrou did say that France had not been playing its proper rôle in Europe "for decades", maybe because they had stopped believing in it or something. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
after seeing that i can see why he has a goodish chance, as his tone and lack of hype were reassuringly middle-of-the road, especially next to the increasingly rabid sarko.
i still root for royal, but he would be a huge upgrade after chirac, imo. ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
I expect that it would be a pretty big crisis if Le Pen were not on the ballot. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Sarko: 28% (-1) Bayrou: 23% (+4) Royal: 23% (-2.5) Le Pen: 13% (+1) (Villiers: 1%)
Without Le Pen: Sarko: 34.5% Bayrou: 25% Royal: 24% (Villiers: 3.5%)
Doesn't take a denouncement by Le Pen into account of course. That's the first poll putting Bayrou at parity with Royal. "The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
Sarokzy's camp is trying to avoid that outcome at all costs, because he needs LePens' voters in the second round if its Royal -- and moreover because LePen not being on the ballot and blaming the incumbent government for keeping him out could very well put Bayrou over the hump ahead of Royal in the first round -- and likely give him the Presidency.
What remains to be seen is if Sarkozy and the UMP will be held responsible for explicitly calling for mayors to sign for LePen.
I am concerned though about Bayrou's proposal to deploy fully proportional elections for the parliament - effectively opening seats for the FN, but that can be debated as it also would help see more greens or extreme-left in the parliament. Le caoutchouc serait un matériau très précieux, n'était son élasticité qui le rend impropre à tant d'usages.- A.Allais
