THE LIBERAL MOMENT?:

French Socialists Face Division and Derision After Vote for Leader (STEVEN ERLANGER and KATRIN BENNHOLD, 11/24/08, NY Times)

France’s Socialist Party found itself deeply divided on Sunday and, even worse, harshly mocked. A summer of embarrassing rivalries has culminated in an excruciatingly narrow and disputed vote for a new party leader that is likely to please chiefly the country’s center-right president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Socialists are known for their intellectual disputes; part of the leadership race involved a vote on political platforms written or supported by the various candidates. But much worse for the party, it is now being ridiculed for its personal enmities and rivalries, making it seem less a serious political alternative than an afternoon soap opera.

They'd be funnier if they hadn't done so much damage.

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Posted by Orrin Judd at November 24, 2008 8:43 PM