By Paul Roderick Gregory – French voters went to the polls today to winnow a ten-candidate presidential field down to the “right-of-center” incumbent (Nicolas Sarkozy) and his socialist challenger (Francois Hollande). The two will face each other in a runoff election on May 6. A Sarkozy loss would be the first of an incumbent French president in thirty years. It would threaten the German-French sponsored European Union rescue package.
The French election previews the U.S. November election contest between incumbent Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney in the following four ways:
- Both Obama and Hollande offer almost identical leftist platforms.
- The sorry state of the economy gives both challengers a hefty leg-up.
A Google search confirms that the U.S. media has largely ignored the striking overlap between Democrat Obama’s and Socialist Hollande’s electoral platforms. Today’s New York Times indirectly lets the cat out of the bag.
In its In France, Using Lessons from Obama’s Election Campaign, the Times reveals that Obama loyalists have been working behind the scenes to teach French socialists community-organizer techniques. more> http://is.gd/FAgNHG
Related articles
- Is There Really Any Difference Between Hollande, Sarkozy, Obama And Romney? (businessinsider.com)
- Hollande, Sarkozy heading to French vote runoff (sacbee.com)
- What Sarkozy’s Defeat Means to the Rest of the World (bigthink.com)
- French election: François Hollande happy with narrow lead over Nicolas Sarkozy (telegraph.co.uk)
- Socialist Hollande Wins First Round of French Presidential Election (commondreams.org)
- Hollande is ‘scared’, says Sarkozy, as French election enters tense runoff (guardian.co.uk)
- Commentary: French Voters Show Their Anger With Sarkozy (freeinternetpress.com)
- Facing deep likability gap vs. Obama, Romney makes case for competence, Niall Stanage, Hill
- Voters prefer Mitt Romney on economic issues but Obama leads in likability, Christian Heinze, Hill
I’m not surprised, and I like it.