"I am the image of France..."

Here is an abridged version of an interview conducted by journalists from Le Parisien with Marine Le Pen:

- What do you expect from the European Summit taking place today on the crisis?

- Nothing. The euro is going to collapse, it's inevitable. It is our responsibility to prepare for this reality rather than to endure it. What we need is a concerted plan for a return to national currencies.

- But that means risking a loss of purchasing power and a devaluation of our money…

- It's a false topic: 95% of the countries in the world have their own national currency. How do Switzerland and Great Britain manage? The devaluation of a currency has no consequences on the interior market. In order to avoid the game of labels, it could be decided that one franc equals one euro. Instead of earning 1000 euros, you will earn 1000 francs. And your loaf of bread will be 1 franc, not 1 euro.

- Can France keep her triple A rating?

- No. It's a matter of a few weeks. Even if Nicolas Sarkozy's goal is to hang on until the election. But he won't be able to. The fact is, the triple A is already lost, since the interest rates have become greater than those in Germany, which also has a triple A. Therefore, this is a sign that the banks no longer have confidence in us.

- The election is seven months away. How are you doing with respect to your sponsors?

- We began in late September. It is still to early to judge, but I have the impression that there will be cause for concern.

Note: In order to become a presidential candidate, it is necessary to obtain 500 signatures from elected officials throughout France. This includes mayors, deputies, councilors,etc… The story of the 500 signatures was the topic of one of my posts in 2007.

- What do you mean?

- Since the sponsors' names are made public, fewer and fewer mayors are signing in order not to have problems. They especially fear reprisals that would rob them of needed subsidies.

- What would happen if you couldn't get enough sponsors?

- I would see in that a sign that we are no longer in a democratic country. It is obvious that those responsible for this would pay dearly at the polls, with devastating consequences for them in the legislative elections.

(…)

- Is an open primary possible for the Front National?

- I don't have the 3 million euros to arrange it! I don't even have a room for a meeting… so let the law mandate it.

- Is François Hollande a good candidate for you?

- Yes, more so than Martine Aubry. Hollande is the Siamese twin of Sarkozy on all the issues that concern the French people today. Moreover, someone who has just been named presidential candidate and who begins by saying that he's going on vacation for a few days, that really strikes me very special!

(…)

- Has Nicolas Sarkozy already lost the election?

- Yes. I'm not even sure he will run. If he is still at 22% in January, he won't go all the way.

- What would have caused him to lose?

- His lies and his style. Lies on purchasing power, on crime, immigration, on the irreproachable Republic… The business climate weighs heavily. There were such expectations at the moment of his 2007 election that the disenchantment is equal to the height of the dynamic he was able to create. It's a total fiasco. As for his style, the outer man indicated the inner. The French caught on quickly, with Fouquet's and l'Epad. They knew they had been tricked.

Note: On election night 2007, Sarkozy celebrated at Fouquet's famous restaurant on the Champs-Elysées. In 2009 he offered his young and inexperienced son Jean the prestigious post of chairman of Epad, the development agency for the Défense, the largest business district in Paris, that extends for miles westward from the Arc de Triomphe. This act of obvious nepotism triggered an uproar in France and beyond. The dinner at Fouquet's was seen as a sign of Sarkozy's snobbish tastes.

- Why do you feel you are better suited for the job than he?

- With all my imperfections and my contradictions, I am the image of France. For example, I am attached to my Christian roots, but I hardly practice my religion. I am for free enterprise, but not for a liberal State (she means "liberal" in the economic sense). I am for a strong State, but I am not an anti-capitalist like the NPA (a left-wing anti-capitalist party). I am attached to traditional values but I am for moral freedom ("liberté des moeurs"). I am against immigration, but I am not xenophobic… like many French people.

Note: A very interesting self-analysis, but she has to work out some of these contradictions. If she is for "moral freedom", she has to realize how harmful such a notion has been for the country. She also has to realize fully that to prefer and preserve one's own civilization is not to be xenophobic, and that uncontrolled immigration is bad for any country.

- And is the working class voter your main target?

- I'm reaching for those who have the greatest need. That is, the middle class and the working class. I almost feel like saying that those who are the most privileged in the country need me less.

(…)

- Do you really want to be president of the Republic?

- I'm going to be very honest: I never envisaged being president of the Republic, not during my adolescence, nor after. It is not a desire, but a duty. I want to change France. Otherwise, I would be with my children and getting ready to go on vacation.

- So you're experiencing this as a sacrifice?

- Of course, it's the sacrifice of a life! And those who deny it are lying. Those who do not conceive this commitment as a sacrifice have such personal ambition that their sacrifices do not count. But my sacrifices do count. For my family life, my friends, for everything. I was raised in a sense of duty. But if tomorrow it turned out that I were no longer useful where I am, then, in that case, I would take advantage of the situation and do something else.