Best post mortem of the French election that I have seen from Vox Day

From Vox Day's blog:

A Le Pen loss, however, will hardly be a knockout blow for populism — or a ringing vindication of the establishment.

If anything, the French campaign has solidified the new fracture lines in modern politics, which bear little relation to the relatively modest differences marking the old left-right divide. Instead, the choice voters face on Sunday illustrates the profound new chasm in the West: between those who favor open, globalized societies and others who prefer closed, nationalized ones.

“What’s the common ground between Macron and Le Pen? There is none. What we’re seeing is historic: a choice between two completely different modes of organizing a society,” said Madani Cheurfa, a professor of politics at Paris’s Sciences Po.

I think this is essentially correct. There is a split between globalists and nationalists. You can be a conservative or a liberal globalist. Both were united in their hatred of Donald Trump. Trump is nominally a nationalist. He talked the talk. We have to see if he is going to walk the walk. The results have been very mixed so far even though it is very early in his administration. He does need to do things to burnish his nationalist credentials. Otherwise he will become a captive of the swamp. I have supported President Trump vigorously since the process began. I am troubled by some of the things he has done. I though he would put America's interests first. I am not in favor of looking for wars overseas in places like Syria and North Korea. He needs to rethink this policy. He needs to be much more of a nationalist in deeds and not just in words. We shall see what enfolds. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. But he needs to put America First.