I though some people back home might be curious about what is going on here. Presidential Election day is this Sunday. This is only the first round (the 2nd his 2 weeks later). Basically there are about 12 candidates ranging from The Far right, to the hunting and fishing party, the aristocrats, to the Communists, the Greens, and the Trotskist Left.

The 4 candidates that have any chance of winning are

Nicholas Sarkozy -A Center Right Candidate. In US terms, he would be considered a Moderate Republican or Conservative Democrat. Think Rudy Guiliani, a man 'Sarko' greatly admires.

Segolene Royal. -The first woman candidate, she would be considered a Liberal. the odd thing is she and Sarko do share many ideas, their platforms are not terrible different.

Francois Beyrou -A right wing candidate with a centrist ideology.

Jean-Marie LePen -A Far Right Conservative who is basically anti-everything. Anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, anti-isreal, anti-EU, anti-NATO, anti-UN, etc. A David Duke meets James Inhofe.

The man I think most of you will find of interest is Sarkozy. 'Sarko' makes no secret of his admiration of the USA. So much so that some people worry if the 'French Identity' might be lost.

Although the election is close, Sarko looks like he's going to win, barring a election-day surprise. This article from the Post today is pretty accurate:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...=moreheadlines

Anybody have any thoughts?

Anybody have any thoughts?

nope....

Well, I hope hat France pulls their heads out of their collectives arses. I'm not saying that France should be kissing the arse of the USA. France needs to stop with it's massive immigration program. The Muslim Riots were because of that. Also I would rather have a France that is friendly to the USA. As I said, France does not need to be our bitch but it should be one of our allies.

France is trying to be a modern western government with an elected system of officals that act as the collect voices of the people right? Well, France going the way it is isn't going to be that. This Sarko guy likes the USA, good for him. May he uses the USA as an example of how to run a country.

In my opinion. I believe that France should cut the bull crap, stop being friendly with Iran and Red China, and lastly, get back to being a friend of the USA. Because in the end, if they don't they're going to fall under the rule of Islamofascism.

5.56

You made a couple of interesting points...

France is one of America's allies. France and the USA agree much more than they disagree. However France is not an ally like the UK, it has always had a rebellious streak and it will never take orders from anybody. So your right about the "bitch" comment, that just isn't going to happen. I think both countries need to make certain behavior changes in order to improve relations further. The French need to be better at swallowing their pride, and the USA needs to understand that heavy-handed treatment will not work, the French wont tolerate it.

As one American journalist put it, French-USA relations can be described as "40 years of marriage counseling".

American Republicans are going to love Sarkozy. A French nationalist who believes in "France for the French". He believes in tough measures against Crime, and Immigration. hes pro-business, and low taxes. He is also very pro-defense and believes in military cooperation with the USA against Islamic Terrorism. He has also called for punitive economic measures against China.

Your mistaken about Iran. The French have very bad ties with Iran. Just last year Jacques Chirac threatened to NUKE THEM if they ever used terrorism against France. Iran prefers to deal with China and Russia. Iran is one of the main reasons Sarko wants to vastly increase military spending.

Chinese-French relations are not so good either. Like the US, the French are very angry about Chinese trade practices, its poor record on Human rights and its interference on the world stage (like with Iran).

But more to the point, the French in the past 3 years have caught Chinese Spies that were stealing economic secrets. They posed as students working as Interns, but in reality they were Chinese intelligence operatives.

You might have heard about the new Chinese car industry -guess where they "borrowed" the technology. It was from a French company called Valeo.

Anybody have any thoughts?

nah....

I have seen a few thing from Royal, I understand she was the front runner for the longest time but recently Sarkozy has been catching up.

Also mmarsh if you wouldn't mind sharing, who are you pulling for and why. Maybe you can give us some insight into an important election in one of our major allies.

Originally Posted by Rabs

I have seen a few thing from Royal, I understand she was the front runner for the longest time but recently Sarkozy has been catching up.

Also mmarsh if you wouldn't mind sharing, who are you pulling for and why. Maybe you can give us some insight into an important election in one of our major allies.

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Technically I could vote, but doing so might cause me problems with the US Government (which is more important to me) so I will just watch.

Royal was winning very early because she is an attractive women that we got to we see in a bikini. This created a media sensation, but then she made a terrible mistake: She opened her mouth. Then came a series of mistakes and gaffes and with it the very distinct impression that she has no idea what she's doing.

Amongst them

One of her more insightful ideas was to create a law that required everybody to have a French flag and that they were to come out and wave it on Bastille day (July 14). Exactly like the Nazis...

Then she angered her own supporters by taking a much more right-wing position on issues such as the 35H workweek and immigration (though she is right on these issues).

Then finally came her 100 point proposal which not only was a extreme-leftwing position, and was very reminencent of a propasal given by Francois Mitterrand. -Another PR disaster.

I'll be supporting Sarkozy. My reasons why

1. Crackdown on Islamic groups, especially those who are not French but come to France to cause trouble (like the riots). He has promised to 'cut Islamic foreign interest groups'.

2. Crime Crackdown. What happened last year was evident of how bad things have gotton. Then there was another incident at the Gare de Nord which resulted in a riot.

3. The end of the 35H work week. Nobody likes losing an extra 4 weeks vacation (on top of 5). But the system is killing the economy. I am sure the labour unions will make a fuss...

4. Better relations with the US. France doesn't have to be Bush's poodle (hes got Blair for that) but Chirac's habit of preaching to the US (even when Chirac was right and the US wrong) was not in the French interest.

5. Increase military spending. Sarko realizes the danger posed by radical Islam and of rogue nations like Iran.

6. (Like the USA) High Tariffs against Chinese imports for it unfair trade policies

7. Tax Breaks to business. This is what causes the high unemployment rates. There are no jobs because taxes are too high on new business. So business owners set up shop in places like the UK where taxes are low. Thats why their economy is great and ours, well...

Sarkozy might be good but well he is another french goon

If the French general dislike of the United States of America is half as bad as the Americans general dislike France then Sarkozy in my opinion wont have a chance.

Originally Posted by Gator

If the French general dislike of the United States of America is half as bad as the Americans general dislike France then Sarkozy in my opinion wont have a chance.

The French dislike of America only extends to its foreign policy and of the current Administration. It has nothing to do with the dislike of its people, of its culture, etc. There were over 700,000 French visitors last year to the USA alone.

As for the reverse, I think many Americans have changed their minds about France. Its true there was a disagreement about Iraq, but Washington and Paris have agreed on other things (like Iran).

I don't think Sarkozy is going to become another George Bush, but he might pull France into a new direction, which is better than the status quo. I am afraid the other candidates like Royal simply don't have the courage to make the drastic reforms that are needed.