Well, today is the day. The runoff in the French presidential election. It is probably a foregone conclusion. It is hard to see Royal winning this. Still, I can no more watch an election without rooting for a candidate or party than I can watch a baseball game if I don’t care which team wins. Go, Sego!!
Oh well, turns out it was not even close. It looks like Sarkozy will win, 53-47. No surprise there.
Turnout was apparently as high as it was in the first round, contrary to my guess that it might fall off (a little bit) and suggesting that even Le Pen’s supporters did not heed his call for an abstention.*
This morning’s LA Times has a story on the candidates. Unless one read very carefully–and maybe not even then–one would not know:
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(1) That the incumbent, Chirac, is not a Socialist;
(2) That the center-right candidate, Sarkozy, who is promising a “new direction” in both foreign and domestic policy, is not only a member of the incumbent’s party, but has been a prominent member of the incumbent government;
(3) That the French president can do little without a compatible prime minister and cabinet; and
(4) That the identity of the prime minister and the political complexion of the cabinet will not be known till after National Assembly elections in June.
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* though it is possible that any Le Pen abstainers were simply counterbalanced by some of the 15% who abstained in the first round turning out for the final decision.
The Sarkozy Win (and Reaction to it in the US)
In watching the French presidential elections I have noticed that a lot of US observers seem to be reading far too much into the contest and the results than is warranted.
Scion grafted by PoliBlog — 08 May 2007 @ 11:38