{"id":39467,"date":"2016-11-28T07:15:33","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T15:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=39467"},"modified":"2016-11-28T08:53:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T16:53:45","slug":"in-a-year-of-brexit-and-trump-fillon-shocks-those-who-saw-him-a-sure-loser-earlier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/prophecy\/in-a-year-of-brexit-and-trump-fillon-shocks-those-who-saw-him-a-sure-loser-earlier\/","title":{"rendered":"‘In a year of Brexit and Trump, Fillon shocks those who saw him a sure loser earlier’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nFran\u00e7ois Fillon (photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen)
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COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

Another primary election did not go the way that many in the mainstream thought it would.\u00a0 This time, in France:<\/p>\n

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Fran\u00e7ois Fillon Wins French Conservative Primary, Upsetting Race for President<\/h2>\n

In a year of Brexit and Trump, Fillon shocks those who saw him a sure loser earlier this month<\/h3>\n

November 28, 2016<\/p>\n

PARIS\u2014Fran\u00e7ois Fillon, a free-market social conservative<\/a>, won France\u2019s center-right primary by a landslide, positioning him as the leading mainstream candidate to take on National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the presidential election this spring.<\/p>\n

Mr. Fillon, a former prime minister who compares himself to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, resoundingly defeated Bordeaux Mayor Alain Jupp\u00e9 in the runoff of the R\u00e9publicains<\/em>\u2019 primary late Sunday, garnering 66.5% of votes according to counts from 96% of polling stations. …<\/p>\n

Mr. Fillon\u2019s commanding victory capped a tumultuous week that nixed long-established predictions. Just two weeks ago polls had shown Mr. Jupp\u00e9, a centrist with bipartisan appeal, with a comfortable lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gradually felt this wave that smashed all the scenarios written ahead of time,\u201d Mr. Fillon said. …<\/p>\n

The upset forces France\u2019s mainstream parties to rethink their approach to Ms. Le Pen, an anti-immigrant euroskeptic who polls show would easily reach the second-round runoff of the presidential election in May. With the more staunchly conservative Mr. Fillon as the center-right\u2019s standard-bearer, the party will come under more pressure to drive turnout among right-leaning voters. http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/francois-fillon-leads-in-partial-vote-count-in-frances-conservative-primary-1480275874<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, the mainstream media and its polling got it wrong again. The mainstream media has been talking a lot about ‘fake news’ in the past month, but seems to overlook the fact that a lot of its interpretation of polls could have been considered to be a type of fake news.<\/p>\n

What about this election in France?<\/p>\n

Obviously, the mainstream media got it wrong again.<\/p>\n

The reality is that many of the people in Europe want a strong leader and they want one who will stand up against real and perceived encroachments by Muslims. While Marine Le Pen is considered too extreme by many, now even she may have a chance.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the positions that Fran\u00e7ois Fillon has held:<\/p>\n

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