# French Presidential Election, 2017
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [March 3, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294 "2017-03-03T14:29:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/41 "2017-04-26T11:40:42Z")
> [@clairobscur](#):
>
> Same scenario on the left. The big names lost the primaries to the relatively unknown Hamon. Who intended to implement very leftist policies, considered by many as impossible to implement . Large part of the party, and especially of its leaders just refused to support him and turned towards the only palatable alternative : the centrist Macron. It became quickly very clear that Hamon would have extremely few support, and had no chance to win, so moderate left electors followed suit, intending to vote for the candidate who had a chance to win and wasn’t Fillon.
And the really hard Left decided they might as well go heavy ideological and vote for Mélanchon, then?
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/42 "2017-04-26T12:39:38Z")
> [@UDS](#):
>
> It means “one who seeks consensus” - someone who aims to secure a political/electoral mandate by by finding common ground with other figures/parties/movements and building on that, as opposed to the more adversarial style of politics in which someone seeks to build an identity by distancing himself from others, by confronting them, by opposing them.
OK, no wonder I haven’t heard of that word. There is no need for such a word in the American English lexicon. 😃
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/43 "2017-04-27T01:27:16Z")
One thing to consider is that there’s little chance either Macron or Le Pen are likely to get more than a handful of seats for their party in the legislative elections in June so France is headed for cohabitation. Without a cooperative National Assembly the President authority is largely limited to defence and foreign affairs.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/44 "2017-04-27T01:46:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> OK, no wonder I haven’t heard of that word. There is no need for such a word in the American English lexicon. 😃
I’d say there’s plenty of \*need \*for such a word here. In fact a crying need for it.
There’s just no \*demand \*for it. Ignorant fucks the lot of us.
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/45 "2017-04-27T01:58:26Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> One thing to consider is that there’s little chance either Macron or Le Pen are likely to get more than a handful of seats for their party in the legislative elections in June so France is headed for cohabitation. Without a cooperative National Assembly the President authority is largely limited to defence and foreign affairs.
>
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Yes. But moderate centrist Macron is probably better positioned to work pragmatically and effectively with the various parties in the National Assembly than radical right Le Pen.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/46 "2017-04-29T02:34:58Z")
Every time i read about this election, i think that a diacritical mark is standing for President of France.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/47 "2017-04-29T04:18:12Z")
The French got a reminder of how fascist the extreme right can get.
> **[Le Pen names former rival as prime minister](https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/le-pen-stand-in-quits-over-holocaust-denial-ldt60t99m)**
>
> Marine Le Pen rebooted her pitch to mainstream voters today by naming a former rival for the French presidency as her prime minister.Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, 56,
> [@](#):
>
> Marine Le Pen’s attempt to woo mainstream voters was undermined yesterday as the interim leader of her National Front party resigned over claims that he had denied the Holocaust.
>
> Jean-François Jalkh stepped down amid a row that is, for Ms Le Pen, an unwelcome reminder of the unpalatable face of the French far right, which collaborated with Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
>
> Ms Le Pen, who is facing Emmanuel Macron, the independent centrist, in the second round of France’s presidential election on May 7, has sought a more consensual image. Her efforts were hit by the controversy over Mr Jalkh, who had only been appointed on Tuesday after Ms Le Pen vacated the post for the duration of the campaign.
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/48 "2017-04-29T09:27:55Z")
Does anyone else think it’s pretty weird that at age 15 Macron fell in love with a married 40 year old teacher (who had kids older than him), and later married her? And that he is always with her, and likes to take her into meetings, etc.
Okay, he can do what he wants with his life, but does France really want a president who married a Mommy figure, and seems to need her reassurance all the time?
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### Author:  [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/49 "2017-04-29T09:30:46Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> Does anyone else think it’s pretty weird that at age 15 Macron fell in love with a married 40 year old teacher (who had kids older than him), and later married her? And that he is always with her, and likes to take her into meetings, etc.
>
> Okay, he can do what he wants with his life, but does France really want a president who married a Mommy figure, and seems to need her reassurance all the time?
Well, there’s this long history of French presidents in their fifties and sixties getting 20-year old mistresses. So I guess it’s nice to have the reverse of that for a change?
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/50 "2017-04-29T09:42:52Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#):
>
> Well, there’s this long history of French presidents in their fifties and sixties getting 20-year old mistresses. So I guess it’s nice to have the reverse of that for a change?
Normally it’s the person with the stronger character who wants a trophy wife or a toyboy.
In this case, it’s Macron who was actively pursuing a much older woman from the time he was a teenager. That’s not normal, even in France.
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### Author:  [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/51 "2017-04-29T09:47:35Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> Normally it’s the person with the stronger character who wants a trophy wife or a toyboy.
>
> In this case, it’s Macron who was actively pursuing a much older woman from the time he was a teenager. That’s not normal, even in France.
So it’s like true love, someone wanting an intellectual equal, instead of a powerful guy looking for a hot chick?
Dear god. The horror.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/52 "2017-04-29T09:58:38Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> Okay, he can do what he wants with his life, but does France really want a president who married a Mommy figure, and seems to need her reassurance all the time?
Well, at this point, it’s down to that or a fascist, so I hope they do.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/53 "2017-04-29T11:53:21Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> Does anyone else think it’s pretty weird (…snip)
Well up until that post at least no one on this thread found it particularly worth remarking upon. Make of that what you will, which you seem to be doing anyway.
Meanwhile it seems Marine had been trying to appeal to some of the more populist-nationalist LEFT faction from those who voted Mélanchon in the first round, and apparently some of those are themselves talking of at least staying at home rather than supporting Macron. What, they’d rather risk a sincere fascist than encourage someone who ditched socialism for globalism?
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/54 "2017-04-29T13:49:00Z")
So, this Madame Macron. Is she herself a good character to be shadow President? Is it likely that she’d really be the one calling the shots because Monsieur Macron is the dependent in the couple? If she did would that be OK-ish?
This is not quite the same thing, but many Americans of the right thought that electing Hillary would simply be re-electing Bill to a third term. IMO it was a fanciful objection, but it definitely was a popular one.
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/55 "2017-04-29T15:59:23Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#):
>
> What, they’d rather risk a sincere fascist than encourage someone who ditched socialism for globalism?
As Minister of Economy and Finance from 2014 to 2016, Macron is one of the architects of France’s current economic woes.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/56 "2017-04-29T16:18:03Z")
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> As Minister of Economy and Finance from 2014 to 2016, Macron is one of the architects of France’s current economic woes.
Not sure about that.
> **[Economy of France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_France)**
>
> The economy of France is a highly developed social market economy with notable state participation in strategic sectors. It is the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and the ninth-largest economy by PPP, constituting around 4% of world GDP. Due to a volatile currency exchange rate, France's GDP as measured in dollars fluctuates sharply. France has a diversified economy, that is dominated by the service sector (which in 2017 represented 78.8% of its GDP), whilst the ind According ...
> [@](#):
>
> France’s economy entered the recession of the late 2000s later and appeared to leave it earlier than most affected economies, only enduring four-quarters of contraction.[20] However, France experienced stagnant growth between 2012 and 2014, with the economy expanding by 0% in 2012, 0.8% in 2013 and 0.2% in 2014, though growth picked up in 2015 with a growth of 1.2% and a growth of 1.3% for 2016, and a forecasted growth of 1.3% for 2017 and 1.6% for 2018, the highest since 2011 (2.1%).[21]
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/57 "2017-04-29T16:22:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> So, this Madame Macron. Is she herself a good character to be shadow President? Is it likely that she’d really be the one calling the shots because Monsieur Macron is the dependent in the couple? If she did would that be OK-ish?
>
> This is not quite the same thing, but many Americans of the right thought that electing Hillary would simply be re-electing Bill to a third term. IMO it was a fanciful objection, but it definitely was a popular one.
And IIRC not sure about that either, AFAIK many in France are not very interested on the personal relations of politicians as other nations do.
> **[France loves sex, but not on the front page | Claude Soula](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/02/french-media-sex-scandals)**
>
> Claude Soula: The Frank Ribery affair has seen the French press nervously enter uncharted waters
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### Author:  [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/58 "2017-04-29T17:00:24Z")
Well, it’s _more_ normal.
And, in fact, none of my business.
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### Author:  [@Great\_White\_Dope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_White_Dope)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/59 "2017-04-30T00:02:09Z")
Macron is considered nothing less than a full-blown lunatic by those in the know. On the other hand, the beautiful Ms. Marine Le Pen is known for her love of the French people, and is committed to keeping them safe from dangerous, poisonous cultures.
If this election is anything other than a Le Pen blowout victory, then I’ll weep for France.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-presidential-election-2017/781294/60 "2017-04-30T00:12:49Z")
That is a sufficiently outrageous position I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or are truly that confused.
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