France Elections!!

From what I have gathered, these are some fact about each:

Political setting of France:

1. There is mass unemployment (over 10%, for youth its closer to 25%)
2. According to the Economist, 80% of all new jobs are short term contracts (short term meaning less than a month)
3. There is great animosity toward establishment figures, and voters in the two major parties have casted out the moderates.
4. For the Republicans, they voted for the dark horse candidate Fillon who beat former president Sarkozy and favorite pick of all pollsters Alan Juppes
5. For the Socialist, they went went further left Hamon over the far more moderate former PM Manual Valls

Candidates:

Marine Le Pen-

After taking over the party from her father and making it more aligned with French voters, Le Pen has played down the anti-semitic tone associated with the party and made it into oe acceptable by many French. Her father had started the movement among the Pied-noir (French settlers from Algeria who emigrated after ALgerias war of independence). These people were cast out by the Left who viewed them as colonial racist. Le Pen started her rise in the South and used her nationalism as a magnet for this community.

She has also used her anti-globalist tone to capture workers in the Rust belt areas of France in the North east, traditionally Socialist strongholds. She has also used her Catholic credentials to whip up support in the south.

She has also made inroads into the suburban areas.

She is supported by more men than women, those with less education, and surprisingly she polls well with the young (though Macron is catching up). The young feel dishearten with the current system and Le Pen has cast herself as someone not of the establishment; "What do you have to lose by voting for me?"

Older people are worried their pensions will be ruined if she leaves the Eurozone.

Some of her main polices include a referendum on staying in the EU, the revival of the French franc, implementation of protectionist policies, distancing from NATO, and a reproachment with Russia


Emmanuel Macron-

My favorite and a favorite of the pollsters, he is literally the exact opposite of Le Pen.

He is pro-EU, pro-competition, pro-immigration, and a supporter of globalization. He started his movement, En Marche! (On the Move) last year and has seen large support from across the Left and Right. He is seen as the centrist candidate. A former minister under the socialist government, he left after his plans for privatization were shelved. He has never held elected office but has gathered supporters eve from Manual Valls who has brought the moderate wing of the Socialist over with him. He wants to combine th pension system (over 30 different systems in France) into a single one to improve its efficiency.


Francois Fillon-

Originally seen as the next President of France, Fillon has been tainted with corruption allegations stemming from paying his wife and children with funds from the French treasury for work they never did. This has severely hurt his reputation and many Republic voters are now supporting Macron.

Fillon is similar to Le Pen in his belief of a raproachment with Russia and distancing from NATO. BUT he does not wish to leave he EU (though he is euro-skeptic). He considers himself a Thatcherite (even though Margaret Thatcher is held in contempt by many French) and wants to cut 500k jobs in the public sector and severely slash public spending (France has not balanced a budget since the 70's).

Overall, he wouldn't make a terrible president imo


Jean-Luc Mélenchon-

He only became widely popular due to fairing well in the debates and making quick one liners (When Macron said he wanted regulations to be decentralized to firms, Melenchon fired back "I do not believe in one business code for each business just as I do not believe in one highway code for each highway."). He has a large following on youtube and has had large rallies. I think of him as the Bernie Sanders of this election but far more radical.

He wishes to completely changed the Consituion and abolish the Presidential system in favor of a strong Parliamentary one. He wants to leave NATO and imposed a 100% tax rate o everyone making more than $420,000 a year. He also wants to form a "Bolivarian Alliance" with Cuba and Venezuela (he is an immense fan of Hugo Chavez).

He also wants to cut work hours from 35 a week to 32 and lower retirement age to 60.

Lastly, he wants to increase the minimum wage and social security payments


Benoit Hamon-

The radical of the Left, he is now being overshadowed by Melenchon.

He is polling at 8% due to moderate leftist backing Macron and radicals backing Melenchon- the Left in Frace has alway been divided.

He seeks to impose a universal basic income of eventually $800 a month. Other than that, nothing huge about him