French fascist Le Pen sees his cause catching on

<PARIS -- Two years after he shocked the French political establishment with a second-place finish in the country's presidential election, the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen is once again hoping to embarrass the elite and confound the pundits with a stronger-than-expected showing by his National Front party in regional elections later this month.>



<"The National Front is going to reach 20 percent nationally," a beaming Le Pen predicted, in the sitting room of his palatial home in the suburban hills of Saint-Cloud, west of Paris.>

<"Everybody is opposed to the National Front," he said. "Everybody is hostile. But despite that, we continue to grow." >

<Pollsters and political analysts do not disagree, though most estimated the National Front's strength at around 15 or 16 percent of the vote. Analysts here are wary of making predictions, since the National Front in the past has demonstrated an ability to surprise; it usually makes its gains in the final weeks of campaigning, and voters who favor the far-right are often reluctant to identify themselves in opinion polls.>

:eyes:

as he did last time.

That's my hope, at least.

But there is a surge of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim, and xenophobic sentiment in France right now and he may be able to capitalize on it.

percentage-wise, he'll do about as well as he did last time.

But the major parties are probably going to get a lot more support this time, meaning that he'll be knocked out before the last runoff.

...Didn't the Nazi Party in Germany get elected into power with 30% of the vote in 1932 and then Hitler was appointed Chancellor?:smoke: (Strange Love)