On Jul 11, 2010, at 6:42 AM, SA wrote:
>
> 1. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is currently the head of the IMF, but he's
> also the leading figure on the right wing of the Socialist Party,
> and he'll be running for president in 2010. This raises, among other
> things, the question of how the PC and other left parties will react
> if DSK faces Sarkozy in the second round. Support DSK, who espouses
> a more or less openly neoliberal type of politics?
I don't think he's going to run for president--he's certainly not running now. The reason is not merely that his present job is a much less stressful one. The PS has come together behind its present leader, Martine Aubry, who has proved herself a forceful (and electorally successful) opponent of Sarkozy and a uniting figure for the left in general (witness the decline of the sects in the European and Regional election victories by the left). The PS will nominate it's candidate in an open primary, with Sarkozy already a mortally- wounded target (who might even end up running behind Martine Le Pen). Why should DSK give up one of the juiciest jobs in the world for a divisive against-the-odds primary campaign? And if he did choose to return to French politics an early endorsement of Aubry would put him in line for the premiership and he'd keep his IMF post till then.
Shane Mage
"L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce qu'on a apporté."
Bardo Thodol