Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Elections year


In case you follow the French political scene you are probably aware that this year, in April, we are going to vote for a new President to replace Chirac. There are about 10 candidates but, so far, only 3 or 4 have reasonable chances : Nicolas Sarkozy - on this photo - (right), Ségolène Royal (left), François Bayrou (center) and Jean-Marie Le Pen (Extreme right). I will try not to bore you too much with these elections as you probably don't care, but from time to time I will show you evidences of the campaign...

45 comments:

  1. I don't know them i'm afraid, but what's with the left, right and centre. They all look the same man to me.

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  2. Wonderful to have the chance to hear some French, thank you Eric!

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  3. I like this guys posters.

    lynn, political left, right, center, etc, I assume. Kind of like here in the USA we often refer to candidates as left wing, right wing, etc.

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  4. This guy looks pretty young. But some people are just lucky that way.

    Are there age and nationality requirement for the president? For example here in the US, the president must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old and has to be a resident here for at least 14 years.

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  5. Lynn this photo shows only Sarkozy!!! I will show you the other ones later in the elections season.

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  6. I saw Charlie Rose interview Sarkozy in Paris last week and I was very impressed. I know that a lot of the old guard French foncionnaires are affraid of his "dangerous" political platform, but I like his vision for the new France. Plus he was very sexy and charming...reminds me of you, Eric ;-)))

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  7. I saw the interview on tv (its on the website also, below). Although I don't agree with him in general, he is a very interesting person. Its interesting to see his body language in the interview, so different then what you will see in a U.S. political candidate interview (his finger always pointing to C.Rose, funny!)

    http://www.charlierose.com/

    Wednesday, January 31: AN HOUR WITH NICOLAS SARKOZY

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  8. Hello from Singapore where there's no sign of Sarkozy or Ségolène... just sun!

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  9. Could someone comment on the French laws regarding campaign publicity? I just returned from Paris and didn't see the bumper stickers, billboards, TV ads, etc. that are all-pervasive here in the US. Are they forbidden?

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  10. On the contrary Eric, we do care (at least I do).
    It's very interesting to see in many countries around the world women (Ségolène Royal, Hillary Clinton) running for president! For instance, we have a woman president in Chile.
    I read elsewhere that Sarkozy and Royal, the two more popular candidates (as far as I know), have more similarities than differences in their vision. Is that right Eric?

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  11. I am studying the French presidential election right now in one of my classes at my university, so this post was very exciting to me! Thanks!

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  12. Eric, it is not boring at all, as you can see from the comments so far. Especially to us in USA, the direction of France is intellectually and otherwise interesting. Lord knows we can't boast of much right (!) now.

    And, regarding the Festival de Romans, congratulations. I have been too busy to check PDP for several days, so I've only read your quick summary notes below the photos tonight. Second place is something to be proud of. I'll buy you lunch when I'm there if you have the time as my gift of congratulations. A bientot.

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  13. Thanks for the scoop on who's who in the French presidential campaign. Not boring at all - helps me to pretend I'm actually there :-)! Curious to know if there is a front-runner, since the election is so close.

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  14. isabella a dit…
    Sarkozy (…) very sexy and charming...reminds me of you, Eric ;-)))

    > absolument MDR !!! (LOL)

    You don't know what you say Isabella ! You've finally focused the light on the truth about this crypto-sarkozist-militant of a guy !!!!

    Michael a dit…
    Hello from Singapore where there's no sign of Sarkozy or Ségolène... just sun!
    > How lucky you are Michael !!!

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  15. Yes, Eric,

    La Présidentielle is probably of greater interest to some of us, than possibly you imagine.

    Marie-Ségolène Royal (a.k.a. Ségo), a prominent member of the Parti Socialiste (P.S.) has apparently a very strong following leading up to the elections of April 2007, partly owing to her pursuit of law and order issues. She is intent on becoming the first Président féminin de la République and even pops over the channel to enlist the support of Tony Blair.

    Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the Centre Right Party or Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (U.M.P.), is very popular, but he doesn't seem to stand for anything. He has powerful friends, but he looks too short to be a President of the French Republic, Maybe Ségolène is even taller than he !

    Jean-Marie Le Pen from the extreme far right looks to be a wild man with a wild card. He seems to be intent on returning North African French Citizens to their land of birth and believes in the death penalty. He is purported to deny the Holocaust and appears to possibly have strong support from older French citizens who see certain of their lifestyle values being eroded.

    From this remote corner of the globe, it looks like one of the first two candidates, but who knows. M. Chirac may yet throw his hat into the ring to save certain explanations to the nation until the end of the next term !

    I find all this fascinating but acknowledge that "Une peu de connaissance peut être dangereuse",

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  16. Eric,

    " I will try not to bore you too much with these elections as you probably don't care, but from time to time I will......."

    On the contrary, you will now see that we DO care !

    In Australia, those posters would have John Lennon glasses and Hitler moustaches decorating them by now. You French are so respectful.

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  17. Bonjour Eric,

    Pour qui votes-tu ? Sarkozy ou Le Pen ?

    Lionel

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  18. Thanks Eric and Soosha but i was just clearly failing at dry humour!

    Michael how could you? It's freezing here in the UK, you meanie you. If i fly out, will you meet me at the airport? I need a stress busting break. lol.

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  19. > Lionel : MDR ! Même moi, je n'aurais pas osé !
    You Nasty-Lionel !!!

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  20. Manger des Pommes, Nen Maman qu'est ce que tu as fait de tes Cheveux c'est de moi, putain deux ans c'est de moi, J'ai décidé de disoudre l'assemblé c'est de moi, et crotte crotte de caniche, c'est de moi, et Jean Pierre t'aurais pas une t'ite biere c'est de moi, elle est ou la meumeu c'est de moi, bref je vais faire en sorte de me representer et vive la France, MANGER DES POMMES, Vive la France Francaise Francais, mes chers compatriote Voter CHIRAC...

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  21. I'm very curious to find out what happens to Chirac once he's out of power. Will he be buried in the ensuing media coverage or arrested? Maybe the French don't have the stomach to pursue him in court, and will just put him out to pasture. At anyrate, I'm interested in a fresh face, but I don't think that French society can move in any significant way, left or right.

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  22. Another intelligent photo, another interesting topic. As you´ve realized by now, yes we do care Eric. I´ll even risk a guess: you´re not voting for Le Pen are you? I mean, nothing that is extreme can be very good, and we´ve had examples in the past of what an extreme right politician can do...
    What about Segolene, is she a good candidate?
    Eric, I´m sorry but I have to say, you´re blog is the best!

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  23. Though Mr. Sarkozy has Hungarian roots I hope to see the lady as president:)

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  24. Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa, born in Paris in 1955, had a Hungarian father and a French mother.

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  25. well, Eric, I heard about that too, at least there are 4 main candidates, here politic is always a game play by only 2, so it's the same again and again... that's a shame.

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  26. Yes, we DO care, and now, Eric, you have to show us images of Ségolène Royal, in the interest of fairness.

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  27. Pas 10 candidats mais, si mes comptes sont à jour, 46 candidats! tous n'auront pas leurs 500 signatures d'élus, mais au moins 46 ont déclaré vouloir être candidats.

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  28. I think Segolene would make a great president and I love Hillary even though she vascilates a bit politically.
    Michael, you can't leave us again. You must comment even if you are 20,000 leagues under the sea visiting Capitaine Nemo. LOL

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  29. There are many people in the USA that are interested in the French elections; but I am sure that those people already had an interest in France or are doing business in France or with French companies. The majority of Americans are quite myopic and lack understanding of the politics in their own country, never mind a European one..IMO.

    However, thanks to TV5 Monde, I have been following this for quite some time and this past weekend I heard an excellent speech given by Segolene Royal who I think is extremely intelligent and a brilliant speaker. Sarkozy seems determined to change his image from that of a hard-liner that was created during the disturbances in the cites in France in November 2005. I guess the final question will be...Is France ready for a "Madame La Presidente" or a French president with a Hungarian surname?? We shall see...Ehhh??

    By the way...the post from Jacques Chirac was quite amusing...glad to see he visits PDP too! LOL!!!

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  30. Lynne, don't talk to me about cold: it is -20 C here this morning, warmer than the weekend. Michael, you rat, I'll save a bucket of ice for you...for on you.

    Re-examining the photo after reading comments: I noticed the shredded red poster. Maybe they should have hung M. Sarkozy's posters to the right of the red shreds? But, if Mme. Segolen Royal is a Socialist pushing for law and order, maybe the conservatives need to push for more something liberal just to be fair? Law and order always is a right-wing position. Fear wins votes, especially fear of 'those people' who commit all the crimes.

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  31. Ah yes, lynn! Humor can be hard to get across in just typed words. Sometimes I try to use something like *sarcasm* or < dead pan >insert witticism here< /dead pan > or something like that. Doesn't walways work, though!!!

    I'm definately jealous of Michael too, although I doubt he's having a ton of fun. Even so, I'd take business is Singapore over 5°F daily highs anytime!

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  32. > kpgallant : interesting what you say of both main candidates as seen from the States (?) because from France, as the campaign is going on, we still wonder if Sego is really intelligent and Sarko less hard-liner than previously, to say nothing of the others ! Anyway, I suppose the question really is not wether the French are ready to vote for a woman or for a man of hungarian origin. I guess these two wouldn't be favorites if not, would they ?

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  33. So would i Soosh. Wouldn't it be great if money and time were no object. We could dash over there and gatecrash his schedule!

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  34. I can't believe Le Pen is still running, after all these years, and what's more, I can't believe he has the substantial following he does have (well, I think it's substantial, I mean who in their right mind would ... ahem, never mind)

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  35. > Tomate Farcie : Hi there ! Not only he's still running but his daughter is very much ready for the job ! And the other "rightist reactionnaire", Philippe de Villiers is still there to ! On ne change pas une équipe qui gagne !!! (sic)

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  36. Gallant....myopic...perfect word..how else did the bush get into office when he really lost the elections...he had some clever people manipulating votes for him. Last survey said he has 30% of the people supporting him but I don't believe the media's polls and surveys. It is so easy to make up figures as well as "facts." I just think change is needed even though the bush is going to lower the taxes that the rich have to pay. We must keep the tax structure fair, right?

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  37. By the way, look at that beautiful "Primé au Festival Romans" sticker on the left side of the blog under Eric's profile link ... awwwwww....

    Very cute!! :-D

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  38. gg...I think that if France gets Sego or Sarko they will still be better off than the US is with BushCo!! Perhaps it will be like it was with Mitterrand...a Socialist President with a conservative Assemblee??? Is that correct? I believe there is a French term for it, sort of like we have now in the US, a Conservative[Republican]president with a more Liberal[Democrat]House and Senate!

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  39. kpgallant: "..they will still be better off than the US is with BushCo!!" Hey, I feel bad about how the rest of the world is faring, not just US!! But please, don't blame me. Uh, oh, there's that car of big scary guys come to see me again...

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  40. OK, I got it... You ARE interested in the French elections. Don't worry they only take place in April so I'll have plenty of time to come back to them (and show Ségolène Luggi ;)


    (Haxo, you're right, Chirac did not say if he would run again, but I doubt it very much!)

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  41. Boy, I know better than to comment on politics, but sure love reading everyone else's comments!

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  42. So did I Michael !
    In Sydney we're into horse poo today - unrelated? Well when you think of it there might be kind of a link...

    Eric I hope you're jumping up and down - you must be so excited to be compared to sexy Sarko, eh ben mieux vaut lire ca que d'etre aveugle.

    Keep'em coming Eric, we want Segolene's ads now. Do remember you owe each candidate the same number of photos and lines LOL

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  43. So...... Michael,
    Master of limericks,
    Master of synonyms.
    Master of popularity,
    But not of politics?
    Je comprends entièrement, monsieur.

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  44. is it something in this Sarkozy face that i despise? probably...thats why i guess he's gonna be the next one...

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  45. Sarkozy played the race card during the riots last year, didn't he? Guess he's trying to pick up some Le Pen votes? I'd love to see Royal elected; let's hope she's not corrupt(able) like the last great socialist!

    Oh, what's that funky dude Mayor of Paris's name? Do you think he will be a contender in future years?

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