If the goal for Hollande was to destroy PS then he has done the best job he could. I had a sick feeling about him during the election. I doubt that political suicide was Holande's intention for PS, however. It just shows the extreme dangers of letting elite insiders specializing in political machinations within a party become the presidential candidate. Wish I could recommend a way to prevent this.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere." (But it helps!)