https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/a-stunner-in-france
"Voters in France delivered a stunning rebuke to the ascendant, anti-immigrant,
far-right party of Marine Le Pen. Rather than seize control of the government,
the National Rally fell to third place behind a coalition of leftist parties,
and even behind Emmanuel Macron’s party, which had been expecting a wipe out
but placed second.
For weeks, the mainstream media has been predicting a huge win for Le Pen’s
party. This was, in fairness, understandable; in the EU elections, President
Macron’s party got shellacked, and the far right seemed unstoppable. Macron
took a huge gamble and called for snap elections, hoping to catch the right
(and the left) off guard. Instead, the right came out on top during the first
round of balloting, setting off alarm bells across France and much of Europe.
Macron had bet big that French voters would rise up against the threat, and
that the fractious opponents of the new fascist right would set aside their
differences and work together to defeat Le Pen.
The gamble paid off. The leftist coalition won the most seats, with at least
182. Macron’s party placed second with 163. Le Pen’s party trailed both at just
143. Many observers are calling it the biggest political upset in recent French
history.
In today’s piece, I’ll discuss some aspects of the French election that carry
significance and some lessons for us here in the U.S. Specifically, I’ll
address the polling, high turnout and successful messaging, and the push for
coalitions against extremism. I’ll then place the election within the worldwide
effort to push back against radical, anti-pluralistic and illiberal right-wing
ideology."
Via Kevin O'Brien.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
