Posted on 05/08/2017 9:02:52 AM PDT by b4its2late
By now, everyone has had a full day to view and process the results of the 2017 French presidential elections. In an election that upended the power of the top two political parties in France, which are Les Republicains and the Parti Socialiste, independent candidate Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen of the Front National with 66 percent of the vote compared to Le Pen’s 34 percent.
This victory by Macron, a pro-EU candidate who identifies as a centrist, upends a global trend of populism that began with Brexit and peaked at the election of President Donald Trump in the U.S. Many on the right in the United States, especially the millennial right, are against the European Union, and have shown a lot of dissatisfaction in her failure to win the recent election. However, now that the elections are over, it is time to ask ourselves whether Le Pen would have been an effective leader, and whether we should even want her as our talisman in Europe.
Much can be said about the racially marred history of Marine Le Pen’s Front National, which was originally started by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, someone who has even recently downplayed the Holocaust and criticized the French national soccer team for having too many black players. Marine Le Pen, his daughter, has sought to clean the reputation of the FN, even going as far as to expel her father, and refocused the party on economic issues and populism as opposed to racially charged rhetoric.
While this makeover has brought improved support for the party, and even made the FN the most popular party among French millennials, there is still much that falls short. Mainly, in a country where it is common to create new parties to represent the same part of the spectrum, it is problematic that the FN has not done the same, especially given the clear reasons to rebrand.
Even without taking into account her own controversial statements, Le Pen has many other problems that should alarm American conservatives. Mainly, most of her political positions are rather far left, such as her position on trade, taxes, and entitlements in France. While her immigration position may be an extreme but arguably necessary counterweight to the notoriously lax immigration policies of Europe, her failure to address the burgeoning welfare state in France will only attract more economic migrants, whether or not they arrive legally or illegally.
Another highly problematic policy point of Marine Le Pen is her plan to withdraw France from NATO. As both a nuclear state, as well as America’s oldest ally, France leaving this military alliance would be a major blow to US military and geopolitical interests. Many supporters of Le Pen in the US also use the mantra America First, so it truly makes no sense to prioritize the interests of French nationalism over the wellbeing of America.
For those who claim that French conservatism does not need to follow the American model, and that France’s sole problem is to curtail immigration and leave the EU, it is important to note that most of the people in France viewed this election mainly as an economic one, given France’s lagging economy. For that reason, among others, Marine Le Pen focused her campaign on economic issues. Also, had Le Pen won, she would have had a tough time enacting most of her proposals, given her lack of support in the legislature (only two MPs). And considering how party leaders left and right united around Macron in a bid to stop Marine Le Pen from gaining support, it is unlikely those same leaders would have been willing to work with her if she was elected President of France.
Based off both the her lack of consensus support as well as the general lack of conservative policies in her platform, I am confident in saying Marine Le Pen would not have become someone worthy of support from the conservative movement.
This is not to say that Emmanuel Macron is a good candidate, as he has major problems of his own. Though his economic policies are good, and an improvement over the socialist policies of the historically unpopular President Francois Hollande, Macron favors further European integration, greater immigration rates, and most problematically, a seeming sense of acceptance of terrorism on French soil.
Given the state of affairs in France the last three years, it is integral that President-elect Macron address the threat of terrorism in the country, specifically, home-grown terrorism, as all but one of the Paris attackers of 2015 were born either in France or Belgium. Neither Macron nor Le Pen seemed to adequately address the issue of home-grown terrorism, and the success and failure of Macron’s presidency will likely be defined not on his economic or social achievements, but whether he can keep the country safe.
While Marine Le Pen may have a few good points, we should not mourn her loss as if we lost a great global standard-bearer for our cause, given her baggage and other shortcomings. We can do better.
Le Pen did have a populist, Left wing economic agenda and some other non-conservative positions. In that sense, this author is right. She’s not an American-style small government conservative. But sometimes you have to smash the mold and shake things up. She would have done that.
Well said.
And you believe that why? What is their motivation to leave? Why would a conquering horde reverse course and leave when complete conquest is well within their grasp?
Macron is as much a socialist as LePen on economic issues, plus he’s total establishment and a complete opportunist.
On top of that he’s for open borders and for destroying French sovereignty.
I would have easily preferred LePen.
It’s their country. I hope they enjoy themselves while they’re on their knees with the blade at their throat. I also know at the very moment the blade goes across their necks they’ll blame Christians and ask the jihadis “what did we do to deserve this?”.
Of course the jihadis will answer, “because you’re alive and it’s what we do”.
Ha! Military alliance! That’s rich. They didn’t allow us to use their airspace during at least one of the Gulf Wars while at the same time threatening to dig up the bodies of our buried vets. Anybody remember Freedom Fries?!
She lost and the French will have to deal with the consequences.
And I wouldn’t be to sure that nationalism and self-governance have “peaked.”
It’s interesting that Quaddafi could be brought down by a thick-ankled hag and her corrupt pal, Sid Blumenthal.
Life is strange...
We'll see. The EU has ordered its constituent countries to lift any internal border restrictions within the Schengen area with France being the exception as France is currently under a state of emergency. What happens with that will determine what the new government's take on immigration policy really is. We can hope for the best but it isn't the way to bet.
The winner has led in polls and by the same difference since the primary.
The American Right has always been very, very different from the Right elsewhere (especially in non-English speaking countries). The terms "left" and "right" started in France, and their original meaning was not Bernie Sanders and Ronald Reagan.
The writer of the piece has a concern with NATO and alliance that raises a red flag with me. Too many conservatives seem more concerned with America serving allies and alliances than the other way around. Alliance should be temporary and discarded the minute conditions change where the alliance no longer serves American well-being.
WHY all this concern with Le Pen? It has to do with Islam and the EU.
If we got rid of all our muzzies we would not be concerned about France.
BTW, will we vet every traveler coming from France?
In 2014, the Front National won 24% in a country-wide election.
In 2017, they won 34%, and increase of 10%.
Looks like two more cycles and they’ll take the whole thing.
“macaroni and merkel” sounds as exciting as an undressed ham on rye.
Since this ol’ BOY macron likes older women, ol’ Merkel better keep her distance.
What kind of statement will this ol’ BOY make when his beloved ‘cuntrymen/jihadis’ kill more French citizens?
The rainbow in these clouds is this isn't us. That's about it. Macron is not going to buck his masters, like Soros and the EU.
Yeah & conquering Europe & the United States is also very attractive to the Muslims. So I sincerely think you are experiencing extremely wishful thinking. Here’s hoping you are right, though I have real doubts.
However the leftists went from Hollande’s 52% in 2012 to Macron’s 66% in 2017. Not a good trend line.
The biggest threat facing civilization is the spread of islam, period, end of story.
A candidates’ stance on stopping this plague is the ONLY thing that matters.
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