thx
The growth of the center-right in France is the big news coming from France.
In the past, the non-socialist centrists (or, liberals) matter-of-factly joined with the Gaulists (or, conservatives), so as to oppose the Socialists and the far-left.
Now, we see that the Gaulists can win by combining their own strength with a portion of the far right (or, nationalist) vote and a portion of the centrist vote. As a consequence, the Socialists are under pressue to move to the center, in order to court the centrists, and have a chance at a majority. A Socialist-far left combination can no longer get enough votes to win.
I don’t think it will be simple for the Socialists to move to the center. The reason is because politics doesn’t line-up on a single line, from far-right to far-left. Successful politicians in France, as elsewhere, have to pull together disparate and sometimes conflicting factions in order to win.
To Sarkozy’s credit, he was able to able to solidify his base, appeal enough to the center, and keep defections to the right to a minimum (within the context of the French electoral system). Royal, I thought, moved too far to the left during the first round, and did not make enough of an effort to appeal to populists on the so-called right.
France seems to be moving in the opposite direction that our country is moving in. Here, the hard core left of the Democratic Party seems to be in the driver’s seat, and we appear to be headed to higher taxes, socialized medicine, and an anti-western, multi-cultural agenda. Having lost the Congress and in retreat at the state level, the center-right is splintering on the eve of the next Presidential election.
His apathy over the Supreme Court's absurd "eminent domain" decision and his expansion of the size and reach of the federal government, especially by increasing entitlements to include prescription drugs, also didn't help.
If he had closed the Border, nullified the decision, and not expanded the federal government, the Republicans would have retained Congress, and he would have assured a Republican Presidency and Congress in 2008.
The Republican base is still angry!
The Border is still open!
The "eminent domain" decision still threatens the American people!
The federal government is fatter and more menacing than ever!