A few thoughts
- The accepted wisdom is to dismiss the various candidates as blithering idiots, and to question the honesty of their intentions. Well, what ever else one might think, none of the front runners are idiots. If we were less hypocritical, we would admit that some of their TV performances are nothing short of brilliant, their resilience in the face of a barrage of hostile questions from journalists nothing short of heroic.
- Do they really believe what they say? I think that a politician cannot strive to convince others if, somewhere along the line, they have not convinced themselves.
- The intellectual level of debate is far higher than in the US. On the other hand, I would like to see more "personal" questions: How rich are they? Where do they send their children to school? Where do they live? How often do they attend parliament? How consistent are they? Unlike the USA, these questions are considered to be in bad taste in France. More's the pity.
- Marine le Pen: an extremely capable and forceful performer. It would be absurd to pretend otherwise. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for France, she is cursed with a highly disagreeable voice, a hard face and an unpleasant personality. The extreme right (and the extreme left for that matter) seems condemned to produce leaders of great charisma but little charm. Is this indeed the definition of extremism?
- François Bayrou: If I were a betting man, I would put quite a lot of money on Bayrou. Ladbrokes are offering odds of 20 to 1. Unlike Sarkozy and Hollande, he is not beholden to the past or to a particular clientele.
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