@Alligator Ed It is worth pointing out that Macron is virtually an invention of the neoliberal press. It is also worth pointing out that while the FN under Jean Marie Le Pen was racist, anti-semitic and Thatcherite, Marine Le Pen has moved away from those policies (although not all FN members have moved away from them). Marine Le Pen does not support the death penalty and she supports abortion rights (unlike her niece, Marion). The FN position on the environment is a little worse than that of Macron, but probably better than the US Democratic Party. The FN is also much more pro-worker, proposing to lower the retirement age to 60 and is more status quo with respect to civil service and government expenditures. Macron wants to lay off huge numbers of government employees, cut corporate taxes, cut the national budget and will probably try to raise the retirement age, eliminate the 35 hour work week, and reduce maternity benefits. Le Pen's foreign policy is non-interventionist and she is not anti-Russian. She has borrowed money from Russian banks, which is not surprising since the European banks she rails against are not going to fund her campaign. She wants to limit immigration to 10,000/year net. Le Pen is probably a petty crook like a lot of French politicians using government money inappropriately. Macron has a ton of money from somewhere, one presumes his banker friends. My guess is that Macron will win, be a very bad President, will not be re-elected and will be richly rewarded by his banker friends.

for the same reasons Trump won. Many will vote for neither LePen, who has softened her xenophobic stance somewhat, or the Neoliberal Horror called Macron. More austerity! It makes you tough, lean and mean--mostly lean and mean. I know our French expat La Feminista was hoping for Hamon, who only got 6% of the vote and desperately not want LePen. I think this may be a choice of the lesser of two evils. On May Day a violent Parisienne street protest occurred, triggered primarily by anti-LePen activists (anti-fa gangs throwing Molotov cocktails at the police). Their virulent discord was matched by a somewhat smaller and less violent pro-LePen demonstration that day.

I posted an essay stating the contest was between status quo and nationalism. The French are a proud people. They are as proud of it as their English counterparts are as proud of theirs. I believe national pride will win out against austerity.

Polls? What damn good are they? Nate Silver gloriously fucked up when predicting the American presidency. I have no doubt that the French press is equally fucked up. Look for LePen to win.

@Alligator Ed He was the only person I saw saying that the polls could be off in the same direction. Meanwhile, Huffpo was saying that Hillary had a 99% chance of being elected. Blame the pollsters who actually took the polls or all the people who shamed Nate Silver for saying that Trump's chance of winning was as high as 30%.

for the same reasons Trump won. Many will vote for neither LePen, who has softened her xenophobic stance somewhat, or the Neoliberal Horror called Macron. More austerity! It makes you tough, lean and mean--mostly lean and mean. I know our French expat La Feminista was hoping for Hamon, who only got 6% of the vote and desperately not want LePen. I think this may be a choice of the lesser of two evils. On May Day a violent Parisienne street protest occurred, triggered primarily by anti-LePen activists (anti-fa gangs throwing Molotov cocktails at the police). Their virulent discord was matched by a somewhat smaller and less violent pro-LePen demonstration that day.

I posted an essay stating the contest was between status quo and nationalism. The French are a proud people. They are as proud of it as their English counterparts are as proud of theirs. I believe national pride will win out against austerity.

Polls? What damn good are they? Nate Silver gloriously fucked up when predicting the American presidency. I have no doubt that the French press is equally fucked up. Look for LePen to win.

@karl pearson much more swiftly than the American ones, primarily because most EU countries have more than two parties. Even though all of them are at the trough (except a few rare ones like Hamon), they cannot let their policies be static because they are surrounded by hungry rivals, espousing different agendas and viewpoints. Perhaps LePen is now more liberal than her immediate FN forebears, including her despicable father. That doesn't mean she is liberal, but certainly not as hard right as in the past.

Note that it is likely that the continuing Parisienne riots are more likely anti-LePen than they are pro-Macron.

The French certainly deserve a better choice than Macron or Le Pen. I don't know much about French politics, but I think the French people will remember their history and reject the far-right Le Pen.

The horrors of the World War II Nazi death camps moved front and center in France's presidential campaign on Friday, nine days before the election, reawakening the anti-Semitic stigma that has clung to the party of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and that she has spent more than six years trying to erase.