Weltschmerz à GogoI can't stand the way liberal outlets dance around calling fascists what they are, as though Le Pen and her party didn't have well documented, long-standing, close connections with rather explicit and often violent fascist groups ("identitarians," GUD, les Zouaves, among others).
Nonetheless, the dynamics here are worth noting, so I'm begrudgingly posting it anyway.
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While Le Pen is a scourge of liberal elites, who has courted the working class, Bardella is now wooing conservative business leaders who have historically been wary of Le Pen’s National Rally. While the earthy Le Pen is strong in the disillusioned, former industrial towns of the northeast, the polished Bardella is targeting the wealthier south.
The National Rally’s old guard may not feel entirely at ease with Bardella’s more economically liberal approach but it understands the electoral arithmetic. Winning the presidency means winning more than half the vote, and that will mean poaching voters from the center-right Les Républicains. For that task, Bardella is the man.
Of course, for now, Bardella follows Le Pen’s orders — and she coordinates his forays into new voter bases — but she is also far from blind to his increasingly rapid ascent.
The party’s top brass is treading on eggshells as a new reality emerges. Le Pen’s candidacy is up in the air until the appeal for her conviction, most probably in the summer of 2026, and in the meantime pollsters are revealing Bardella is just as credible as a presidential candidate. Officially, the party is pretending it’s business as usual, but it’s not.
The unease about which way the party is going — and who will be the front-runner for the Elysée — is now palpable.
#NationalRally #LePen #Bardella #France #fascism #GUD #Zouaves #identitarian
DoomsdaysCW
foiaresearch
