The fact Melenchon is asking to the young to do better than him is a sign that he is going to retire soon. To this extend what can be said from this political character, who I personally don’t support but I think he is one of the most charismatic, together with Macron, regardless of his ideology.
The fact he is seducing among the French suburbs for instance is showing that Melenchon represents a lost classical side. The way he speaks, the quality of the language he uses looks to be appreciated by many people. It is possible to have a look at the way he can represent the radical left : Melenchon is also very talented the way he is able to react to people, and knows how to find a relevant formula. Moreover he is more cultivated than many politicians. Those factors explain why Macron and Melenchon estimate one another, despite important political differences.
Melenchon may represent, to this extend, a classical political side which is disappearing. It looks that many people aren’t satisfied with the current mediocrity we can see everywhere, in many political debates, in the media with the buzz culture… For instance, in France, if you look at the debate between Giscard and Mitterrand in 1974, the level of the discussion was far higher than what we saw last year between Macron and le Pen.
Melenchon is not at the level of Giscard or Mitterrand. The way he allows to insult political opponents, for instance, would never have been done by Giscard for instance. However he represents to some extend a nostalgia of a ‘classical’ approach of things. And the fact many people are not satisfied with the mediocrity of the debates, behaviors close to middle class fights (if you consider for instance the debate between Pecresse and Zemmour) while the subjects are very serious and have a lot of impact on lives, it looks that Melenchon represent this side. The only other one who has this side is Macron ; but he doesn’t fit to the ‘classical’ standards as completely as Melenchon, as his behavior is too self confident and patronizing.
Those factors may explain partly why Melenchon succeeded to make the radical left a real force in the country. He succeeded to build a party with more than 20% at the presidential elections, while Besancenot, who was the radical left leader before him, couldn’t do more than 5%. Melenchon also succeeded to take a real revenge on the Socialist Party, which was symbolized by the creation of the NUPES in the 2022 legislative elections.
That is the reason why it is possible to say the success of Melenchon is not only ideological. It is linked to a charisma, but also a search for good old repairs in a society that lacks so many. Being classical without being conservative or reactionary looks to please to many citizens. It is a pity that it is a radical leftist that represents it, however it shows that the example of Melenchon could inspire many politicians of many borders.
The observer 