Scrambling for Votes

The graph above shows the percent of votes per party in those cantons where the Front National had a candidate in last Sunday's election. Thus, we see that, on this basis, the FN received 19% of all votes - more than the UMP. This implies that if the FN had had more candidates, the results would have been even more impressive.

Trying to condense the commentary on the French cantonal elections is like trying to "drink the sea", to paraphrase a French expression. But it all revolves around a handful of themes:

1. Will Sarkozy make an alliance with the Front National against the PS (Socialist Party)?

2. Will Sarkozy make an alliance with the PS against the Front National?

3. Is Marine Le Pen merely biding her time until 2017, when she will be a shoe-in if the president at the time happens to be Dominque Strauss-Kahn?

4. What happens to Sarkozy's men when they speak openly about the election and tell their voters to vote for the FN instead of the Socialists or vice versa?

Here are a few excerpts in greatly condensed form from the home page of Le Salon Beige:

Thierry Gourlet, the FN regional councillor from Lorraine, declares that FN voters who have to choose between the UMP and the PS should stay away from the polls on Sunday. The exception would be if there is a candidate from a smaller right-wing party. These parties are known collectively as the DVD - Diverse Right. He explains that FN voters cannot choose between the UMP and the PS because they are the same - a union of failures.

The gendarmes of Versailles-Sud, where they are stationed in large numbers, voted strongly for the Front National last Sunday, demonstrating their disappointment with Sarkozy. The UMP candidate received a total of 67 votes from two voting locations, while the FN candidate received a total of 186 votes. These results are not equivalent to a prediction for next Sunday, but are a significant indication.

For whom should Catholics vote in 2012? Rémi Fontaine, a Catholic writer, says there is a difference between the "lesser evil" and the "lesser worst". Marine Le Pen appears as the "lesser evil", while Sarkozy has proven himself to be the "incompetent leader of decline" and the representative of the "lesser worst which cannot be confused with healthy political prudence. Clearly, the Catholics faithful to Church social doctrine must first rally behind the lesser evil, to the exclusion of the lesser worst."

Note: We can only assume that the Socialists are the "greater worst". Some choice.

As one Salon Beige reader asks:

- And if the Socialists take power, what will that be in terms of natural law?

In a more-than-confusing quarrel over who to vote for on Sunday March 27, members of Sarkozy's UMP are shocked that Prime Minister François Fillon told voters to vote against the Front National in a race where the FN was pitted against the PS (Socialists). Fillon claims there is no difference between his position and that of Sarkozy:

"There is no difference between the position of the president and my own. No vote from the Right or the Center should be given to the Front National. This is consistent with the position of the president."

Sarkozy himself said:

"The choice is to abstain or to vote for the Socialists. The only thing you cannot do is vote for the FN."

Several members of UMP denounced this appeal, calling it catastrophic and disastrous.

UMP deputy from northern France Christian Vanneste declared:

"If there is a candidate of the extreme Left, I strongly advise that each person choose the camp that is closest to freedom."

Note: He is urging voters to vote for the FN, but he doesn't say it overtly.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppé is telling UMP voters to vote for the Socialists if they are opposed by the Front National on Sunday.

Note: Salon Beige readers react with unmitigated contempt to Juppé's collusion with the Left.

Last but not least, an ex-delegate of the UMP, Jérôme Jarny wrote in his blog of his consternation over the attempt to obstruct the Front National. He says:

"Personally, if I were to choose between a Socialist ballot and a Front National ballot, I think I would pick the latter!"

For this he received a letter of reprimand from the local UMP headquarters advising him that he could no longer use the UMP logo or the title of delegate from the canton of Mouthe on his correspondence. The letter concludes:

"It is not admissible, when one exercises political responsibilities, to express personal opinions that reflect on the whole party."

For Le Salon Beige readers, this is tantamount to Stalinism.