Those who remember for Juppé may also realize he took one for the team (or for Chirac), and didn't even benefit himself from the fake jobs.
Yes, I agree... I think it was even harsh for him at the time (I mean, I'm not sure I would disclose fake jobs myself if I knew about them, it was a kind of political suicide at the very least). I was just looking for people seen in a good light that admitted wrongdoings in the past. It's obviously a lesser one.
Anyway I wonder if Fillon wasn't too naive precisely because he had a clean career until now, and didn't know how to react. It's sad to say, but the worse they are, the better they are at defending themselves. Just watch Le Pen or Sarkozy dodge similar accusations like a Matrix agent.
Well, I think there's people that KNOW there's risks of things being uncovered so think about it beforehand and prepare fuses they can burn in case it comes public, and people that believe it'll stay unnoticed forever, never and still believe they can downplay it easily when it's uncovered. Cahuzac is a perfect example.
Yeah. A more moderate candidate will now face le pen in the second round which is really bad for her unless Fillon magically recovers.
Fillon was one of the thoughest opponent for LePen in a direct second turn match. Used to be 2:1 before the Penelope gate. It's still 3:2.
If the opponent isn't moderate but sharing some far-left ideas, many people will prefer vote for the non-FN version of it. At least for now, and I hope it'll go on like this.
That being said I don't think they would have voted for him in the first place
Probably. Also, there's a vocal group, but I'm not sure they have that much voting power.
I doubt those "threats" are dangerous.
The "gay rumor" is also coming straight from its own side (obviously not publicly) and has (I hope) far less weight in France than it would have in Russia, from what I gathered.
The links with banks will go both way (possibly scare far-left, but gather center-right), it's not new, and well-known anyway.
The "ties to Clinton", even if true, will hardly be seen as a bad thing here, after all the media campaign against Trump, and Trump seems to want to give wight to this campaign.
The "stolen money" is the fact that he spent a good chunck of the budget in the first half of the year, putting its successor in a alledgably difficult solution, and used some official visits to do non-official things? Those things will probably seen as menial.
I won't even talk about the whole marry-his-teacher thing, I guess it could bring it sympathy, not hostility. And his wife seems to be a really good advisor on public relations. And, I mean...
- the current president had a love affair with an actress, sneaking out of the Elysée to visit her, and complex relations with the mother of his children
- the former one had also a love affair, with a singer, its relations with his former wife were public and harsh, including SMS unveiling
- the former one had married his wife probably for pratical reasons, and was well known for freely courting other women
- the former one had an hidden life, including an hidden girl
and so on.
Who can really believe that private lives can really undone a candidate? I mean, yes, there's DSK, but he really pushed it a bit far...
