Drawn to extremes in France

Here, tragically, the extremes threaten to meet. While Melenchon vilifies Le Pen's racism and has nothing but scorn for her person — "foul beast" and "siren of hatred" are among his gentler phrases — he nevertheless shares Le Pen's hostility toward globalization and the EU. Like Le Pen, Melenchon decries the EU's "economic liberalism" that has, in his eyes, ransomed the peoples of Europe. Most important, both cast themselves as challengers to a corrupt political and economic system. They have, as a result, drawn their most fervent support from similar demographics, galvanizing the youth and drawing the support of workers and professionals who, whether former Socialists, Communists or Gaullists, no longer believe these parties are defending their interests. These similarities in fact moved Le Monde to publish a caricature of Melenchon and Le Pen reading from the same speech, titled "They're All Rotten."