This Is What France Can Learn From Super Tuesday

Republican Donald Trump won the most states on the most important day to date of the race for the US presidential nomination. Hillary Clinton has taken a serious lead among the two remaining Democrats .

Here are some observations and lessons we can draw from these events, both for the US and France.

Anti-establishment politics are gaining ground. Trump will undoubtedly be the Republican Party 's candidate, fulfilling its worst nightmare. He will win the nomination with his transgressive speeches, his positions, and the range of his electorate and his policy proposals (if you can even consider them a coherent package of proposals). Bernie Sanders , against all odds, has revitalized America's idealistic left: the youth, the environmentalists, and the anti-globalization activists. The man who thinks that "a new world is possible" is drastically different from the Cartesian, classical, and competent Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders may have been beaten on Super Tuesday, but he's still fighting back, and the states on the East and West coasts have not yet had their final say.

Victims of inequality are speaking up. As it has been pointed out long ago by many economists, from Stiglitz to Piketty, income inequality has dramatically increased in the past 20 years. Only the wealthiest Americans have actually benefited from the recent economic recovery. Those who feel abandoned by the system are voting for Trump. Those who feel outraged by it are voting for Sanders.

The traditional parties are struggling. No one predicted that Sanders would be able to pull the Democratic Party to the left. No one predicted that Trump would be able to shake the Republican Party as much as he has. The upcoming elections will be marked by direct communication with the candidates, bolstered by social networks. Trump has 12 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Trump's popular because he's popular! YouTubers have decided: the celebrity will be the celebrity.

Being a radical pays off. Bernie Sanders embodies a "socialist" America, one that is breaking with the usual codes of centrist Democrats. Even if he doesn't win the nomination, his candidacy has sent a strong message to the American left: Hillary is traditional, and her wisdom --though undisputed-- is not overturning any tables.

As for Trump, his success comes mainly from the outrageous nature of his remarks; out with the Mexicans, out with the Muslims. His supporters seem to be excited by his sexism, racism, jokes about people with disabilities and foreigners. We must be strong and authoritative, he says, we must arm ourselves and stand up to everyone. As for the Ku Klux Klan, my God, "I'd have to look at the group... "

Here comes the hangover after the electoral after-party. The ordinary American is waking up to the indefatigable ascent of the property developer. Moderate US newspapers are starting to ask: What would Trump's America look like? No one knows what it would bring, other than the end of the world as we know it.

Nothing is exactly comparable, and yet, here are some relevant observations about France.

Populism, understood as simplistic demagoguery, is gaining ground everywhere in Europe, particularly in France. The narrative is: We should send back the refugees, close the door to immigrants, and everything will be better. You know how it goes.

The middle classes cannot see a future. It may not be as severe as in America, but inequality is rising in France. Children won't have the same quality of life as their parents did. Unemployment has been on the rise for 30 years. Farmers feel abandoned, employees are frustrated, and the young are desperate and neglected.

Anger towards traditional political parties is growing, and so is lack of trust. The Socialist Party is torn, the UMP party has been rebranded as the Republicans by its president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Alain Jupp, back from hell, is leading in the polls, and personalities at odds with their political families, such as Emmanuel Macron, are popular. And those who, like the National Front, have never actually exercised power on the national stage, are seeing their popularity rise.

Radical positions are gaining ground in Europe and in France. Without having to look beyond our borders, we have heard Marine Le Pen declare at the Salon de l'Agriculture , that she couldn't give a shit about Europe. It reminds us of the most conservative Americans. This is what Trump says about Europe, Asia and the rest of the American continent.

We're about to experience a hangover of our own. Like the one we experienced in April 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen made it to the presidential runoff, or last December, when the National Front dominated the regional elections. That rude awakening, in a world we've feared. Like endlessly sliding off a slope.

We reassure ourselves by saying that America is a country of extremes, both climatic and political. And France remains (for how much longer?) a moderate country. Even if the winter is no longer what it used to be, even if our politics have changed.

We're hoping that Trump doesn't contaminate our country. The man who builds his politics on profanity, rejects rational discourse, and humiliates others in an attempt to boost his own popularity. The worst case scenario may be avoided.

This post first appeared on HuffPost France . It has been translated into English and edited for clarity.