@Roy Blakeley

Le Pen disturbing denial

Marine Le Pen, a leading candidate, said Sunday on RTL radio, "I don't think France is responsible for the Vel d'Hiv"— a reference to the Paris stadium where thousands of Jews were rounded up before being sent to Nazi death camps.

Some 13,000 Jews were deported by French police on July 16-17, 1942, many of whom first were detained under harsh conditions at the indoor cycling stadium.

In all, about 75,000 Jews were sent to Nazi concentration camps from France during World War II. Only 2,500 survived.

It looks like the left vote is relatively constant with Melenchon taking votes from Hamon. The Melenchon and Hamon curves are mirror images of each other. Btw I am somewhat more favorably disposed toward Le Pen than many are (note: not naive here, her father was, and is, a right wing bigot and there is a considerable legacy of that in the FN). She opposes neo-liberalism and foreign intervention and supports a more sensible relationship with Russia. She supports women's right to have an abortion and she is generally more pro worker and pro farmer than most of her opponents. She is clearly nationalist and secular. She is anti-nuclear and her policies might result in greater greenhouse gas emissions. However, she is not an anti-environmentalist like Trump. I don't read her as a con artist like Trump. In her interviews, she seems to be thoughtful and relatively honest. I think Macron would dish out more of the same merge that France has been wading through for years. Fillion would be even worse. I would support Hamon or Melenchon, but I think this characterization of Marine Le Pen as ultra right wing is simplistic and misleading.

@Roy Blakeley The all-atomic national electric power company EDF (Electricité de France), intertwined with De Gaulle’s nuclear force de frappe, have always been a yuuge deal for the “Hexagon” (as France calls itself).

The Hexagon versus the Pentagon — sounds like a pro wrestling attraction.

It looks like the left vote is relatively constant with Melenchon taking votes from Hamon. The Melenchon and Hamon curves are mirror images of each other. Btw I am somewhat more favorably disposed toward Le Pen than many are (note: not naive here, her father was, and is, a right wing bigot and there is a considerable legacy of that in the FN). She opposes neo-liberalism and foreign intervention and supports a more sensible relationship with Russia. She supports women's right to have an abortion and she is generally more pro worker and pro farmer than most of her opponents. She is clearly nationalist and secular. She is anti-nuclear and her policies might result in greater greenhouse gas emissions. However, she is not an anti-environmentalist like Trump. I don't read her as a con artist like Trump. In her interviews, she seems to be thoughtful and relatively honest. I think Macron would dish out more of the same merge that France has been wading through for years. Fillion would be even worse. I would support Hamon or Melenchon, but I think this characterization of Marine Le Pen as ultra right wing is simplistic and misleading.