{"id":591,"date":"2015-12-17T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T13:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/?p=591"},"modified":"2021-01-14T21:12:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T20:12:23","slug":"france-the-national-front-did-not-make-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/en\/france-the-national-front-did-not-make-it\/","title":{"rendered":"France\/ The National Front Did Not Make It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><\/p>\n<p><style type=&quot;text\/css&quot;>\n<!--\n \/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Cambria;\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:&quot;&quot;;\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;\n\tmso-fareast-language:EN-US;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:595.0pt 842.0pt;\n\tmargin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>Even in places where <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;republican pacts&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em> where not set up and triangular ballots took place, Le Pen&rsquo;s party was rejected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><style type=&quot;text\/css&quot;>\n<!--\n \/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Cambria;\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:&quot;&quot;;\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;\n\tmso-fareast-language:EN-US;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:595.0pt 842.0pt;\n\tmargin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>Marine Le Pen&rsquo;s National Front did&rsquo;nt make it. On the second round of the French regional elections, last Sunday, it failed everywhere&nbsp;: even in the Greater Northern Region, where Marine Le Pen herself was leading by a wide margin on the first ballot, or in Provence-C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Azur, where her niece Marion Mar&eacute;chal-Le Pen, a 26 years old political prodigy, was also a frontruner. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>The hard fact is that there is a nationwide 60 % to 70 % majority in France which will not support the National Front whatever the circumstances. While abstention fell from 50 % to 41 %, the National Front stayed put at less than 28 % of the global vote. The classic Right (Nicolas Sarkozy&rsquo;s Republican Party and its centrist allies) rose from 34 % to almost 41 %. The Left as a whole fell from over 36 % to over 31 %, due to Far Left&rsquo;s lack of discipline, but president Fran&ccedil;ois Hollande&rsquo;s Socialist Party actually rose from 23 % to 29 %.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>The Left and the Left were even prepared to engage into momentary <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;republican pacts&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em> to block the National Front&rsquo;s rise in some places. In the Greater Northern Region, most of the Left lent its support to Xavier Bertrand, the conservative candidate, who won by almost 58 % of the vote against Marine Le Pen. The same happened in Provence, where Christian Estrosi, another conservative, eventually defeated the younger Miss Le Pen by 55 % against 45 %.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>Even in places where <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;republican pacts&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em> where not set up and triangular ballots took place (Right, Left, National Front), Le Pen&rsquo;s party was rejected. Take the Greater Eastern Region for instance, where the conservatives (48 %) won both against the Left (15 %) and a quite powerful National Front (36 %). Or Burgundy, where the socialists (34,6 %) won both against the conservatives (32,8 %) and the National Front (32,4 %).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>Marine Le Pen&rsquo;s initial reaction was to blame the <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;system&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em> and to warn that French politics are turning from now on into a manichean fight between <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;patriots&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em> (herself and her supporters) and <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;internationalists&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em> (all other parties). It may energize the National Front&rsquo;s militant core for a while. However, it runs against the softer and more democratic rhetorics Marine Le Pen has been using so successfully since she took over the National Front from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>Even if French Jews have been turning to the Right over the past years, they remain largely suspicious of Marine Le Pen&rsquo;s ultimate views, both on domestic and international issues. Her reversion to manichean clich&eacute;s is not likely to dispell such feelings.<span style=&quot;mso-spacerun: yes&quot;>&nbsp; <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;><strong style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-weight:\nnormal&quot;><span style=&quot;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&quot;>&copy; Michel Gurfinkiel &amp; The Jewish Chronicle, 2015 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<style type=&quot;text\/css&quot;>\n<\/style>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-left:1.0cm&quot;>Even in places where <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&laquo;&nbsp;republican pacts&nbsp;&raquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/en\/france-the-national-front-did-not-make-it\/\">&nbsp;&raquo;&nbsp;Read more about: France\/ The National Front Did Not Make It &nbsp;&raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[655],"tags":[747],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2422,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions\/2422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}