French Presidential Election 22 April 2007 Thread

[Gustaf]

I'm rooting for Bayrou but it's almost certainly going to be between Royal and Sarkozy, I think. I hope Sarkozy takes it, as it currently looks like.

[Gustaf]

Would Bayrou get the right and win in that situation? Or would his base be far too weak?

[Gustaf]

Just my 2 cents: polls show that Sarkozy beats easily Royal at second turn. But bayrou does the same with Sarkozy. Royal voters will vote bayrou to avoid Sarkozy?

I'm not sure why you're surprised. Obviously some socialist voters wouldn't vote at all, but most of them would vote for the centrist over the rightist.

I'm not sure why you think he is surprised. Obviously he's making a point.

[Gustaf]

So are independent candidacies impossible in France then?

[Gustaf]

Bono, I seem to recall that Le Pen is protectionist to a great degree. But one has to remember that parties like the FN usually are populist, in the truest sense of the word, when it comes to economy; in other words, they'll say whatever they think maximises their chances of being elected.

[Gustaf]

I live in England but I am Italian,and thankfully the fascists don't win seat in our parliament.We got the Lega Nord,but it's losing a lot of its appeal.And there is no way someone like Le Pen would get 15% in Italy.

Given that Italy is the only Western European country which has had fascists take part in governments and probably has the strongest brand of fascism in all of Western Europe I find that quite ironic. Sure, France and Belgium are not far behind, but Italy is one of the worse countries in these respects.

[Gustaf]

I live in England but I am Italian,and thankfully the fascists don't win seat in our parliament.We got the Lega Nord,but it's losing a lot of its appeal.And there is no way someone like Le Pen would get 15% in Italy.

Given that Italy is the only Western European country which has had fascists take part in governments and probably has the strongest brand of fascism in all of Western Europe I find that quite ironic. Sure, France and Belgium are not far behind, but Italy is one of the worse countries in these respects.

Blaming Italy for its past is not going to get anywhere. Alessandra Mussolini's party and those like it are considered the extreme fringe of Italian politics.

Lol, who said anything about the past? I'm talking about the present. And while I wasn't thinking in particular about Alessandra Mussolini either, "considered the extreme fringe" didn't prevent her from beign elected, did it?

[Gustaf]

Let's extend this a little further; predict the best Region and best Department for each of the major candidates (or for all the candidates if thee liketh).

Big talk from someone who hasn't even posted a general prediction yet!

As for me: Sarkozy: 24%
                 Royal:     24%           
                 Le Pen:   19%
                 Bayrou:   16%