A curious phenomenon about France's close election race

[True Dough]

In America, it's common to hear Dems urging young people to get out and vote because, demographically, they tend to be majority left-leaning.

In France, polling is showing the opposite, with seniors more supportive of incumbent left-winger Emmanuel Macron, while younger voters throwing their weight behind right-winger Marie LePen.

It's a very close race overall. Here's hoping Macron can pull it off.

Link to tweet

[MaryMagdaline]

1. Oh my God this would be horrible for NATO and the world

[True Dough]

2. Yes,

it certainly would be!

[Novara]

3. I'll bet Russian misinformation is behind this

Hell, it worked in America in 2016, didn't it?

[Scrivener7]

5. LOL! We posted the same thing at the same time.

[Scrivener7]

4. Does anyone doubt that Russia is manipulating their social media like they did

with us in 2016?

[Takket]

15. none

Russian disinformation has proven to be their most successful program ever. From social media he controlled our election, Brexit........ what makes anyone think they would stop there?

[herding cats]

6. Le Pen is bought and paid for by Russia. Literally.

That the young there cannot see it is a testament to how social media exploitation works. In these modern times it's a real problem.

I just hope they don't vote reliably. Le Pen is a global danger.

[dalton99a]

7. Why does Le Pen get so much support from young voters?

According to Professor Jim Shields of Aston University a lot of the support among French youth for Le Pen comes down to ideological sympathies, but there is a clear “economic dimension” to FN’s success.

“In France, polls show the desire for ‘change’ to be a key factor in youth support for Le Pen, a view of Le Pen as the candidate most likely to shake things up,” Shields said.

“Polls show that she draws much of her youth support from modest households: working class, lower-middle class,” he added.

Years of economic mismanagement had resulted in high levels of youth unemployment, little security for those in employment, and reduced social mobility, Shields explained, further drawing a comparison between France and its neighbours to highlight the scale of the issue.

“Another reason for FN support among the young is that they’ve no memory of the FN as a pariah party bringing together some of the most radical elements of the French extreme right,” Shields said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/4/20/why-does-le-pen-get-so-much-support-from-young-voters

[True Dough]

9. This is some helpful perspective

Thanks for providing it.

So it appears that disadvantaged youth want change so badly that they'll vote for the other candidate, not realizing all of the highly detrimental baggage that accompanies that choice.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. "most likely to shake things up"... careful what you wish for, les jeunes de France

MAGAts wanted to shake things up. They got things shook up alright, but did not get what they expected (Hillary and Obama in jail, permanent middle class tax cuts, LGBT outlawed, swamp drained). They got grifted and infected.

[Marius25]

8. It's scary how much Le Pen is rising.

She's doing what Trump did and promising the world and people believe the lies.

She's already said if she wins she will ally with Putin. So the EU is in deep trouble.

[dalton99a]

11. Yep, she is using Trump/Putin's MAGA playbook

[Strelnikov_]

10. France sounds like the US when it comes to politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/08/french-politics-marine-le-pen-france-europe

France is an angry country. It is always an angry country. It is especially angry at present because the Ukraine war has inflated already high petrol, diesel and food prices. But there is no real appetite in France for confrontational policies that would destroy an 80-year postwar political consensus of outward-looking tolerance and European unity.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/22/people-feel-suffocated-cost-of-living-tops-french-concerns-before-election

But it was when a young relative working as a rural healthcare assistant recently broke down and wept at the fuel pump because she could barely afford the petrol to get to work that Martin’s anger rose. “How can there not be a mood of revolt?” she asked.

Worries about purchasing power and how to make ends meet have become French voters’ top concern before the April presidential election. The government says that, on paper, people have more in their wallets since Emmanuel Macron’s election in 2017. The treasury estimates that gross disposable income, which economists use as a gauge of purchasing power, has grown twice as fast under Macron than under his two predecessors, helped by tax cuts and job creation.

But because food and fuel prices are rising, and because fixed costs such as housing, insurance, energy and phone bills account for such a large part of French budgets, voters feel a sense of daily struggle. An Ifop poll last month showed 69% of people felt their purchasing power had deteriorated over Macron’s term.

[David__77]

14. Lots of people won't vote in a second round between those two.

Hopefully there’s a change and Melenchon makes it to round two.

[Carlitos Brigante]

16. Macron might not be a fascist. But there's nothing "left wing" about him either. And yes

you'd have to be out of your mind to vote for that bag of shit LeMerde.