Benoit Hamon wins French left-wing presidential primary against Manuel Valls (Socialist Party source
Source: France24
Benoît Hamon wins French left-wing presidential primary against Manuel Valls (Socialist Party sources)
(Breaking story; the run-off was today, and Vals is speaking now -- looking for English article)
Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/breaking/20170129-benoit-hamon-wins-french-left-wing-presidential-primary-against-manuel-valls-socialist-party-sources
Vals' concession, very good-natured:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?vfvhF8wavvJU
Hamon just finished his victory speech, very modest:
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/politique/ps/primaire-a-gauche/direct-primaire-de-la-gauche-resultats-de-l-election-et-reactions_2038435.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
He's gotten behind a universal income plan that's getting a lot of traction. Vals was basically Hollande's right-hand man and so his fortunes depended on François who is very unpopular just now thanks to the economy.
Hamon is kind of the Bernie character but a world away from Sanders in that he's young and has no record to speak of. And both leading conservatives are having problems: Fillon's wife Penelope is stuck in a messy patronage scandal (getting paid for little or no work), and Marine Le Pen is apparently having trouble raising money (thus her pilgrimage to Trump tower last week). So Hamon just might be the last man standing. He's kind of a Justin Trudeau-type so things could be worse.
p.s. I'm sort of sorry to see Manny go down, but he's relatively young and will be back I'm sure.
On the bright side, Marine would be France's first female president, and barring something really horrible I don't see her taking it. Fillon is as bland as butter and his appeal seems to be that he's not Sarkozy or Hollande. That's probably enough to knock Marine out of competition but so far he doesn't seem to hold a candle to Hamon for novelty, which can go a long way in politics as Barack discovered ...
p. s. good to see ya justin! 
He is a radical left-winger often described as a Gallic Bernie Sanders, and was viewed as a complete political outsider just three weeks ago.
Benoit Hamon handily won France’s Socialist Party primary on Sunday, making him the party’s best hope to maintain its grip on power in presidential elections this spring.
A clear majority of the more than 1.3 million voters in the primary cast ballots for Hamon, crushing the political hopes of former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, an economic liberal who had been seen as the favorite heading into the election.
(snip)
Hamon, 49, ran on an anti-capitalist and anti-globalization platform, pledging to introduce a monthly “universal income” for all citizens, to consult the French people in major legislation and to legalize marijuana.
He topped seven other left-wing candidates in the first round of the Socialist Party primaries a week ago and defeated Valls in the second round on Sunday by 58% to 41%.
Hamon was education minister in François Hollande’s Socialist administration but resigned after disagreeing with the government’s broad social democrat economic policy.
Defeated Socialist Party candidate Manuel Valls greets supporters after delivering a speech in Paris on Jan. 29, 2017
(snip)
France has now four clear choices for its next leader: the left-wing Hamon; the centrist Macron; the traditional conservative Fillon; and the far-right Le Pen.
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-france-socialists-20170129-story.html
