UPDATE: See discussion for further clarification of French election laws.
That's OK, We'll Just Vote Again
It's an interesting feature of the French constitution that the loss of an election can allow the sitting-but-just-voted-against President to call for another election immediately. This time they got a more palatable result to the elites: instead of a right-wing government, they'll have a coalition with their very hard left. Whatever it takes to keep the right wing out of power! They could have voted ten more times if necessary.
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Deeply related: the phrase "Never again" by the Jews after WWII did not turn out to mean "Never again will we allow genocide, especially against our people." It turned out to mean "Never again will we vote for anyone on the right, because we are just sure they are secretly Nazis." The cry was taken up by the rest of the left to horrible effect, and may be the single greatest propaganda victory by the communists in the 1900s.
I am happy to take other nominees for propaganda victories, but am calling this one the leader in the clubhouse for length of effect.
It's not so much that a lost election can be run again in France; their system, by design, calls for two votes in quick succession.
The machinations that (mildly) offend my sensibilities (which is unimportant, since I'm not a French citizen) is the deal Macron and his primary party cut with the French Left's parties on the heels of Macron's crushing loss to Marine Le Pen's faction, the National Rally (née National Front), in the first round--and done hurriedly in the week between rounds--to put up only one candidate between them in each of the French districts, so as to not split the non-NR vote and thereby let Le Pen's candidates win in the final round, too.
There are, apparently, enough supporters of Macron and the Left, combined with Never Le Pen/never NR voters, to hold her and her party seriously back.
Macron, though, has made a bargain with the Devil, and he and France will pay a stiff price. 'Course, if Macron hadn't pulled off the deal, a different Devil would have reigned, with an even stiffer price for France.
Eric Hines
"Course, if Macron hadn't pulled off the deal, a different Devil would have reigned, with an even stiffer price for France."
What, specifically, would that price have been? (I assume you're referring to National Rally)...limitation on immigration, which just about every country in history has done until now? Expectation that immigrants follow the laws and make some attempt to assimilate? Maintaining and expanding France's impressive nuclear generation capabilities?
Not trying to be quarrelsome, just trying to understand what is so bad about NR other than the 'right wing' tag that has been applied to it.
It's not so much that a lost election can be run again in France; their system, by design, calls for two votes in quick succession.
That's what I thought -- and it's sort-of true, only for runoff elections. We have runoffs too, but only occasionally because there are only two major parties. Apparently in France it's assumed that much of the time there will have to be a runoff between the last two standing.
Grim,
One good thing about the French runoff system compared to ours is that the French don't dawdle about it--they get it on a week after the first round.
We, on the other hand, dilly-dally and fiddle fart around for weeks to months before a runoff is done. It's the same for our special elections called to fill an unexpectedly empty seat. There's either no runoff because the main event is that "soon," or there's weeks to months of fooling around before the special election is run.
Mr Foster,
One problem is the NR's penchant for toadying up to Russia. That Le Pen has tempered her words on that is neither here nor there, nor her nor her party can be trusted to have actually changed their position on that. The NR also has a long and hoary antisemitic attitude, and her words of tempering here, also, cannot be trusted.
As for French nuclear power generation, Macron's sort of center grouping has been trying to get that done for some years. Whether NR has arrived at that independently or is merely aping Macron's En Marche/Rennaissance party position rhetorically, NR cannot be trusted to work to bring its claims to fruition were it in power.
Eric Hines
Eric Hines...thanks. I just have to wonder if whatever residual antisemitic attitudes exist in the NR are as much of a threat as the very current anti-Semitic (and likely violent) attitudes that exist among the Islamists in the coalition.
The run off is permanent part of a Two Round Voting System. It's not like the 'jungle primary' system or other run offs often used in the US.
It's hard to find a full explanation but it seems to go something like this (quoting from the above story in part)
French presidential and legislative elections are based on a two-round first-past-the-post system.
The first two candidates that come on top in the first round automatically make it to the second round. Moreover, candidates who secure at least 12.5% of the vote share of those *registered* (not just cast) also make it through. So it's not just the top two which is why there were the strategic drop-outs in districts where the vote split three ways. The Macron bloc and the Leftist Bloc agreed to back a single candidate against the NR candidate. Higher turnout generally creates this situation more often.
There also appears to be a provision similar to some run offs in the US where getting a majority of the votes (I don't know if cast or registered but I suspect registered) in the first round don't have to go through the second. I remember reading several places that some districts were decided after the first round.
I think you can avoid the second round by getting a true majority in the first round, just as you can avoid a runoff here by getting 50+%. It's just that doesn't happen as much in France because there are many more parties dividing the total.
So it's either commies out to destroy the West or pro-Russia antisemites?
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