Re: [Marxism] Re: French Elections

[Jon Flanders <jonflanders@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 2007-04-22 at 21:08 +0100, Lenin's Tomb wrote:
> The argument is also deeply sectarian in itself.  It supposes that one
> can build a real party of the working people without engaging the
> committed cores of activists who make up the existing parties.  As
> things now stand, the LCR is by far the left-of-left party with most
> support, and I doubt you'd get very far without including them in such
> a move.

According to Wikipedia, Besancenot increased his percentage of the vote
from 4.25% to 4.75% in 2007. This is pretty impressive when you consider
how much pressure there must have been to vote for Royal this time.

What would 1.3 million votes in France be in terms of the US? 7 million?

4000 at the closing rally? Equivalent 25,000 in the US? Please show me
where I can find a sect like this in the US. I want to join up.

Jon Flanders
> 
He gained some national prominence when he stood for the 2002 French
presidential election. At 28 years old he became the youngest
presidential candidate in the country's history. Standing on an openly
revolutionary socialist platform he gained 1.3 million votes, 4.25% of
the total vote. Among under 25 years olds he gained 13.9 percent of the
vote, beating both Lionel Jospin and Jean-Marie Le Pen.[2]

Besancenot is running again for the the 2007 presidential election.
Since the beginning of his presidential campaign, Besancenot has used
the slogan Nos vies valent plus que leurs profit ("Our lives are worth
more than their profits") and has campaigned for further redistribution
of wealth, an increase in the minimum wage, prohibition of layoffs for
profitable companies, and a taxation of profits from capital
speculation. Among non political supports, Besancenot is endorsed by
British filmmaker Ken Loach, known for his depictions of working-class
struggles.[3] His campaign's closing rally, in Paris, was attended by
over 4,000 people, making it the largest meeting organised by the LCR,
or its predecessors, since 1968.[4]


[edit] 


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism