Far-right Le Pen closes in on Macron ahead of vote

Does the term "far-right" not mean at the fringe of mainstream opinion?

No, it doesn’t. The terms either far-right or far-left are political positions based upon political views. They’re not based upon the people who hold those views. So Ms. Le Pen is, and would still be considered far-right even if she were to win the Presidential election, because the designation is based upon political views, not the person who holds them.

Even in the article you should be able to see the difference between right, and extreme right, given the way it is explained that Ms. Le Pen holds more moderate views in terms of immigration and EU membership than those of her rivals, also far-right -

France's far-right leader has worked hard over the past five years to win votes like Sophie's, softening her rhetoric and presenting a more moderate, "electable" image. 

She still promises strict limits on immigration, a "French-first" policy when it comes to housing, jobs and benefits, and a ban on the Muslim headscarf in public places. But she has also dropped her plan to leave the EU, and has emphasised her personal life as a single mother who breeds kittens.

Ms. Le Pen is acutely aware that breeding kittens gains her more kudos on social media than breeding immigrants.

He only did it to save himself. He came out to the EU flag and National Anthem when he won the Presidency. That's not the act of someone who loves their Country and has the best intentions in mind for it.

Targeting a working-class core vote, nationalist-populist Rassemblement National (National Rally) leader Marine Le Pen has a more statist economic platform than her far-right rival. She wants to intervene to set prices, give out subsidies to prop up faltering sectors of the economy and set up a French sovereign wealth fund to invest in strategic sectors.

Le Pen also favours replacing the current property tax with a wealth tax directed at the rich, totally exempting primary residences. Keen to attract the youth vote, Le Pen wants to get rid of income tax for workers aged under 30 “so that they stay in France and start families here”.

What economic policies are France’s presidential candidates proposing?

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220405-what-economic-policies-are-france-s-presidential-candidates-proposing

Economic policy has taken something of a back seat in a French presidential campaign initially focused on cultural and identity issues, then overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. But as the country pre…

Lots in common with SF. She also hates free trade. SF have voted and opposed every free trade deal the EU has agreed to.

Marcon is the President of France. It's his job to meet other countries leaders and states people.

Marie Le Pen wanted to meet Putin becusse she's a fan of his and wanted to meet one of her political idols.

I can see why she is doing well. Macron is a pompous arse, bit like a French version of Leo. The cost of living is hammering ordinary citizens allover Europe and I believe she is tapping into that anger. So many voters will say “why will I vote for more of the same”? Time europe woke up to its citizens instead of clobbering them at every opportunity. Or else we are going to see a lot more Le Pens and Orbans.

Left vs right had been nicely framed for them as a “good vs evil” standpoint.

Whoever said "Conservatives just think you're wrong. Liberals think you're evil." hit the nail on the head.

She’s doing well because about 61% of French people are either committed to supporting Frexit or contemplating it.

in 10 years the population of France has grown by around 2 million people.

in 20 years the population of France has grown by around 6 million people.

the key driver is immigration.

that is unsustainable….completely at odds with a fair and decent quality of life for French taxpayers and citizens.

get on a bus, metro, RER in downtown Paris and even off peak you’d do well to get a seat nowadays…

they have been attacked by people they tried to help, ie. The Charlie Hebdo attackers as one example….

France won’t leave the EU but it’s obvious there are major issues surrounding migration and the overall French economy. Again that’s why Le Pen is doing well. Like it or loathe she appears to be listening to peoples concerns. Trump won in 2016 on something similar

I don't get it.

Young people aged 18-35 in Ireland are leaning towards socialist parties, e.g. SF, SocDems, etc.

I suspect in the UK, the Labour party is stronger among 18-34 than Conservative.

Yet this poll in France has them leaning towards a right-wing party?

The reason is obvious though. France is far further down the road of mass immigration than we are.

It's younger people in the Labour market that are at the coalface. They see it, they are worried about the future. They are worried about their communities. They see social instability.

Poorer ghettoised parts of Paris and other cities are like a war zone every night of the week.

The exact same is going to happen here. Like in France initially you'll have liberal voting on these issues.

But as the years go by and the consequences become clearer and clearer the exact same shift to the right will happen here.

It's just a question of how long.

All our mainstream parties here are pretty centre. A step or two to the right or left. Sinn Fein have an illusion of being left but if they ever see power you’ll see democracy and law and order fade to black….

life here and indeed France and crying out for good centre left leadership.

Not the biggest fan of Macron, but Le Pen is the consummate right-wing populist, constantly reinventing to get votes. Also it's no secret Putin would love to see her get in. The predicted super low turn-out could turn up a nasty surprise.

The modern left have a working class problem, in that they despise them but need their votes and have built their belief system around "working class politics".

The stark class divide between the modern left and those they presume to speak for is incredible and only growing.

Across most of Western Europe, the left is largely a dead end political force, 15 years ago they were regularly in Govt in many countries.

It's a testimony to how much they have screwed up, how irrelevant and obnoxious they have become that they are on the electoral floor after a crisis of extreme free market economics.

That's not going to change, too much of the left today are inward focused, elections are vulgar.

The left, particularly the intellectual left, have always hated the working class. Orwell wrote about this problem almost 100 years in his letters and it’s still as true today as it was back then.

If it wasn't for their propagandists in the media the Left would have lost their "Party of the Working class" label decades ago.