(((The chain-smoking gay mayor and the revolutionary Communist postman. I dunno, maybe these two guys are really gonna thrive.
In the meantime, Sarko's popularity is up five points.)))
ttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4614091.ece
Link: Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë bids for French Socialists leadership - Times Online .
Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, today made a bid for leadership of the Socialist opposition, just as the rudderless French Left risks being upstaged by a new party founded by a revolutionary postman.
Mr Delanoë, 58, France's most popular leftist and most senior gay politician, (((okay, he's chainsmoking, gay and also old))) was the second big beast to enter the fight to succeed François Hollande, the lacklustre outgoing leader. Half a dozen contenders are already in the running for the November party vote, including Ségolène Royal, Mr Hollande's former domestic partner, who lost the run-off for the presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy last year.
The Mayor staked his claim amid media bedazzlement with Olivier Besancenot, 34, a charismatic Trotskyite (((I'm trying to imagine the Russian reaction to a Trotskyite French leader – icepicks leap to mind))) and second most popular leftist, whose star has soared since he scored four per cent in the presidential first round. A no-compromise Marxist of a type extinct elsewhere, Mr Besancenot is surfing on discontent with both Mr Sarkozy and the parliamentary Left.
Riven with disputes, the Socialists have failed to capitalise on Mr Sarkozy's deep unpopularity. On Sunday Mr Besancenot said that he would do the job and outlined plans for a Nouveau Parti Anti-capitaliste (NPA).
To the delight of Mr Sarkozy's camp, this will drain a substantial fringe of leftists who have given up on the Communist Party and believe that the Socialists have sold out. "French capitalism is in the process of cracking," the baby-faced Mr Besancenot declared to a cheering crowd. "What they need is a good old revolution." (((I'm looking forward to the giant French communal farms.)))
Mr Besancenot's movement, which is opposed to profits, parliamentary democracy and private enterprise, is being credited with a potential 7 or 8 per cent of the national vote. Along with support for a new broad Green coalition, this would fragment the Left just as the far-right Front National of Jean-Marie Le Pen did to the Centre Right of Jacques Chirac in the 1980s and 1990s.
Ms Royal, 54, is the other big contender for the leadership of the self-destructing Socialist party...
