The Socialists are trying so very, very hard not to have Ségolène Royal as their presidential candidate. How dare she get ahead of dinosaurs like Lionel Jospin! It's getting ridiculous.
Now they are insisting on six debates-- three televised-- among all the Socialist candidates before the primary vote on November 16th. The obvious reason for this is to get rid of Ségolène, who, according to popular wisdom, has no ideas of her own. Instead, the bewildered Socialists will turn for comfort to one of their dinosaurs!
Yesterday evening Mme Royal lost her temper. "You have to wonder if some people don't want to lose-- if they haven't started the losing-machine."
["C'est à se demander si certains n'ont pas envie de perdre, si la machine à perdre n'est pas déclenchée."]
Update on Thursday, 28 September: Lionel Jospin has just announced he is quitting the race. He avoided endorsing anyone.
Bill Clinton set aside leftist dogma and left a divided, lost and ineffective Democratic party in his wake, with the left wing being its most enraged and frustrated remnant. Tony Blair looks like he may be about to do something very similar in the UK. So they may be right to experience a frisson of fear. Even a machine a perdre may seem attractive to a dinosaur when compared to the brusque efficiency of the guillotine.
Posted by: ZF | 27 September 2006 at 16:05
There is a French expression for what's going on in the French socialist party right now. It's called "la zizanie" [aka the mess]. Appalling.
Posted by: LA Frog | 29 September 2006 at 08:47