Rally shows France’s far-left nearly as strong as far-right

Recent polls give Mélenchon 11 percent of the vote, putting him on par with the National Front’s Marine Le Pen and centrist candidate Francois Bayrou. Mélenchon has promised to back the Socialists in the final round, but he is already claiming victory by forcing front-runner Francois Hollande to promote increasingly leftist policies in order to steal the increasing supporters of the Left Front.

Mélenchon’s popularity also stems from his zero-tolerance policy for the thinly-veiled racism of Marine Le Pen.

France’s executive branch is unusually powerful by western standards, so Mélenchon’s new constitution would have more power for the legislature and referendums on all crucial issues.

The rise of Mélenchon shows that not all of France’s workers have been seduced by the far right. The further his momentum carries, the further left the next French president may have to be.