I didn’t really expect any surprises today, and exit polls say there are none, other than Le Pen having a terrible showing (thanks, probably, to Sarkozy “out-LePenning” him). I heard on a live BBC program earlier that it was a nice sunny day across much of France. Not that your orchardist would ever have advised anyone not to vote (anymore than he would advise anyone not to grow and eat fruit), but it looks like un ronflement to me. Apparently, the French thought it a fine day to vote, however, despite the foregone nature of the outcome of this round. The ghost of 2002 hovers.
The runoff should be interesting, though.
Barring any surprises in the final real count, the most interesting thing I’ll be watching is whether Voynet can hold off Bové.
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Update: The link in the first paragraph is showing actual partial returns. At 22:30, French time, about 65% had been counted and Sarkozy’s lead has been expanding. Now more than five percentage points, or about 30–25. If that holds up, Royal is about where her late polling said she would be, but Sarkozy is doing a bit better than expected. What that might mean for the runoff, if anything, is not clear to me.
Oh, and Voynet (1.6%) is still ahead of Bové (1.4%)!
