In the New York Times, Paul Krugman argues that America and France face a similar situation: about 20% of voters are always angry even in good times.
According to him, these active voters eliminated Al Gore in 2000 and Lionel Jospin in 2002.
But he adds there's a big difference between France and the US. "In the United States, the hard right has essentially been co-opted by the Republican Party — or maybe it's the other way around. In this country people with views that are, in their way, as extreme as Mr. Le Pen's are in a position to put those views into practice."
His conclusion: "The difference is that here the angry people are already running the country."
Source: Paul Krugman, The New York Times, Apr. 23, 2002
John Rossant also compares the US and France. But he's going way back, to the late 60s, where race riots "devastated inner cities in the U.S."
He concludes: "Just as Le Pen is shocking France's conscience today, George C. Wallace and his segregationist American Independent Party shocked the U.S. by picking up some 10 million votes, or 14% of the electorate, in the 1968 Presidential election. In some ways, the U.S. is still working out the repercussions. France may be only just beginning."
Source: John Rossant, BusinessWeek Magazine, May 6, 2002 Issue
Pascal Colrat, a french artist, created an image named "Delete". Le Monde published it in its edition dated April 28-29, 2002.
You can see a Mac error message and a trashcan. The error message says: "La Corbeille contient l'élément FN. Voulez-vous supprimer définitivement cet élément?" Translation: "The trashcan contains an element named FN [for Front National]. Do you want to erase it permanently?"
You have the choice between two buttons: Cancel and OK.
I know which button I'll click: OK.
Sources: Pascal Colrat and Le Monde, April 28-29, 2002
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