Sarko, Sego et Moi.....

Only 4 months until the French Presidential Elections! Things move along fast here. It's not at all the same as the USA. We have lots of political parties. Even more candidates.
Extreme Left and Extreme Right and everything in between. The extreme right is represented by Jean-Marie LePen of the Front National, a very militant right wing anti immigrant, anti Europe, anti almost everything kinda guy who is getting senile in the nastiest way but still represents a force to be dealt with in every election.
The Extreme Left is represented by Olivier Besencenot of the LCR (League Communiste Revolutionaire). He is a 33 year old Postman from Paris and this is his second presidential election. In the last election, he got 1.2 million votes. He is very personally nice guy and highly intelligent debater who has written a few books and very definitely a force to be reckoned with.
In between, there is Francois Bayrou from the Pyrenees who has his own left of center party, Arlette Laguiller, the perenial candidate for the Communist Workers, Phillipe DeVilliers, a conservative Catholic witthout a chance, Dominique DeVillepin, the present Prime Minister, Edouard Fillias, Dominique Voynet, Jacques Chirac, who hasn't said if he will or won't, and various Green Party and of course Jose Bove....
But the real contest after all the spoilers have played with the percentages, is between Nikolas Sarkozy, the present Interior Minister and Center Right UMP Party candidate and Segoulene Royale, President of the Poitou-Charentes Region of France and a member of the National Assembly. She is a Socialist. She is a little more centrist than the traditional positions of the Socialist Party which in reality is an asset for her electability.
The procedure for the presidential election normally is all candidates are allowed the same media time. The money for campaigning is paid by the government and no other money can be spent. There are no television ads except in blocks, so the ads must be very clear and the alloted time is valuable for explaining the candidates platform.
Then a week before the election, each registered voter recieves a packet in the mail with sample ballots and information about each candidate.
Then they vote. There are no voting machines. The system is very traditional, you take your ballots, select the one you want, deposit it in the box in full view of everyone. In a small village, they read off your name as you sign the register and as you deposit your vote, the official says "a vote". Then the votes are counted with witnesses at each station.
Unless a miracle occurs, in the first round, no one candidate will get a clear majority but the two top contenders will be the candidates in the next round a week or so later. This explains how Jean-Marie LePen was able to challenge Chirac in the second round in the last election. Everyone "held their noses" and voted for Chirac.
I hear more talk of "le vote utile" this time. Instead of voting for your favorite candidate or protest vote, the last election scared enough people to realize that they have to vote for the candidate they think would be the best right off!
So, Sarko, Sego....Sarkozy is playing to the middle, he is hard on immigration and has been critisized for his harsh prosecution and extradition policies. So much that an open resistance has developed of a network of people defying the law and looking at it in a way that is reminiscent of the Resistance of WW2. They hide immigrants and help them become legal and keep families together.
He also plays to peoples fears of race and his rhetoric has been accused of being the spark of the unrest last year in the suburbs of Paris. If he became President of France, you would see real unrest from all levels of society. He doesn't help himself that he is seen as very vain and over ambitious. He has tried to borrow a lot from American political campaigning and stages huge media events and rallies. A short, swarthy fellow, he has an aggressive speaking style that turns a lot of people off. I have been calling him the "Lawn Dwarf Of Doom". The Socialist Party has released a 600+ page document that details his links to the NeoCon movement in America.
Seguolene is a breath of fresh air. A complete break with the elephants who have dominated French politics, she is an unmarried mother of five, attractive and extremely intelligent. Her partner is Francois Hollande, the president of the Socialist Party. She seems to have captured the imagination of the country and her image has taken on a life of its own. In the last few weeks, she has taken trips to China and the Middle East to meet with leaders and establish relationships and gather her own facts.
She is going to visit the United States in the next few weeks and I guarantee you will hear of it. I have already heard none other than Pat Buchanan speak of her as the next president of France on The McGlaughin Group.
I wrote this to give you a bit of background as to what is happening here. I will try to explain the process and update it as it goes along. This is a country that lives and breaths it's politics and debate is a living and vital art here. The passion you see on your television screens in the streets here is a given natural right! Right now the homeless are the big issue and the associations representing them are taking advantage of the election to throw the spotlight on the issue and get the candidates to make commitments! Ecologists were able to do the same thing!
Observing this process can give Americans insight to what education and action can really do. You can only become a prisoner of Apathy when you accept it!