Lurking in the background of all the political discussions in French politics is "What went wrong for Sarkozy ?" when he was beaten by the Socialists and François Holland who replaced him as President !
Any keen observer of the French political scene knows that refusing any sort of alliance with the National Front, or the extreme Right, and then saying "if in doubt vote Socialist but never for Marine Le Pen" was suicidal !
The National Front during recent years has mellowed. It now proposes common sense policies which directly appeal to "floating" voters. The result has been an astounding success for the National Front Leader, Marine Le Pen, according to Opinion Polls.
One of the fundatmental policies proposed by the NF, which really appeals to voters is the Limitation of Immigration into France and immigrant rights to Social Security benefits, at a moment when rising unemployment is a major issue in France !
The policy of "never vote National Front" was initiated by Jean-François Copé, the Secretary of the UMP party. His aim seems to be clear. He "dumped" Sarkozy with this policy but now seems to want to be a candidate in the next Presidential vote in France. Will he follow the same anti NF policy he advocated for Sarkozy ?
However Fillon, the faithful and loyal Prime Minister of President Sarkozy during the five years of his Presidency now also seeks his "independence" ! He recently scandalised the UMP heirarchy by saying that between a Socialist and NF candidate he prefers the least sectarian.
He in fact seems to have adopted some NF viewpoints as one can read on his internet site "Force Republicaine".
However, Sarkozy also appears to have "hankerings" to return and stand again. The infighting has started ! But there are at least three years to wait. And in the meantime there will be casualties and other new candidates !
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