To staunch the manipulative, self-serving hysterics. And this too (Naturally, the 'disastrous left-wing experiment' was self-inflicted by an unserious Mitterrand & Co., for whom it was all a "silly, symbolic" exercise in crushing the hopes of their rank and file supporters):
"One critical factor in the rise in support for marginal candidates was the similarities in the platforms of the main candidates, Mr. Chirac and Mr. Jospin. Ever since former President François Mitterrand's disastrous left-wing experiment of the early 1980's, French Socialists have gradually moved to the center and accepted the need for a market economy, European integration and the Atlantic alliance. By the 1990's, this Socialist pragmatism was so ingrained that Mr. Jospin found himself in a government whose economic platform focused on issues like fiscal austerity, privatization, free trade and lower taxes. To win over centrist voters he even adopted familiar right-wing themes like the need to crack down on crime. The result was that French voters who felt they wanted an alternative to mainstream policies or to longtime leaders had to opt for parties out of the mainstream, and they did so in droves."
The Jolt in a Victory on the Right By PHILIP H. GORDON The success of Jean-Marie Le Pen confirmed well-established trends toward the fragmentation of the French political system and the rejection of ruling parties. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/opinion/23GORD.html?todaysheadlines
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