Maybe I could have as well !
Travelling around Europe during this EU election period has been interesting with posters of candidates just about everywhere. The thing that struck was how young the Candidates looked, especially when you compare to most of those in Australia.
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This could be a nail biter.
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Unbackable favourite, he must get compared to Hitler all the time.
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The Russians like strong autocratic leaders. A few moments of choice and then hand it all back to the strong man
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By which you mean will it be above or below 99% in favour. Could go either way.
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To steal an old Frost Report line, thieves broke into the Kremlin and stole next yearās election results.
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Well one enemy goneā¦
Surprising news.
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I like the way his friends told him he probably wasnāt getting under Putinās skin because he was still alive.
Next minute!
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What an āunfortunate accidentā.
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Update:
What a great democracy.
You can see why certain American conservatives are enamored with how Russia operates. No freedom of the press. Open persecution of the press, homosexuals and, minority groups. They do not give a ā ā ā ā .
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Lots of media attention here of Boris strutting his stuff in Kyiv, so little on run off for French Presidential elections, started 10 April
I think the first round of French presidential runoffs should concern everyone. If the traditional, centrist Right republicans are increasingly irrelevant, itās going to drive a lot of them even further right towards Le Penn and maybe even beyond to āfind their political nicheā . We should all be aware of how quickly disenfranchised people can go down very very dangerous rabbit holes.
It almost becomes unimportant if Macron wins this time if the resultant offshoot is that the extreme right numbers swell for next time as a reaction. That extreme polarity is already in evidence in the US with ātrumpistsā basically hijacking the baselines of GOP support.
The extreme edges never produce good outcomes for communities when they cease being edges and become centre stage.
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24 April run off between Macron and Le Pen. If the young donāt vote, Macron could lose.
Iām reasonably certain that Macron will win again. The non-far right candidates pulled far more votes than Le Pen and are motivated to vote against her. Itās still far too close for comfort though.
However everything that @saladin said is correct. Somehow, despite all empirical evidence, far-right populism is seen as the only alternative to neoliberalism (see also: Trump v Clinton 2016) and if Macron cannot deliver an alternative to the neoliberalism heās provided France since 2017 we could see a far-right populist elected in France in 2027. Particularly with dark money flooding in from Russia and Hungary.
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Well it delayed Paris Roubaix for one week - Of course if this was Belgium the elections would have been delayed for a week to accommodate a cycling race.
Pretty fascinating this French election runoff now. Macron heads north into the heart of Le Pen country whilst she hits Burgundy. Not literally ā¦ but theyāre campaigning like thereās no tomorrow.
MĆ©lenchon already calling for his supporters to back Macron. I think heāll win clearly and the French will step back from the brink of embracing a xenophobic, Frexit hinting and Putin appeasing Marine Le Pen as their head of state.
French have always liked to preen and feel they matter ā¦ which they do of course. But lurching significantly to the right at a time like this will prove too much a gamble for the most ardent nationalist. MLP to lose again ā¦ but Europe holding their breath.
I thought Melanchon called for supporters not to vote for Le Pen, did not go so far as to say vote for Macron.
Macron is loathed by the left
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