French Presidential Election 22 April 2007 Thread

[Bono]

Go Jean Marie.

[Bono]

My buddy Jean Marie will surprise everyone like last time.

[Bono]

My buddy Jean Marie will surprise everyone like last time.

it will be hard for Le Pen to be at the second turn this time.

2 reasons: first, Segolene Royal, if she is the socialist candidate, should make a good result at the first turn. Secondly and for this moment, Sarkozy and Philippe de Villiers would catch lots of FN popular voters.  Problem with Sarkozy is that his economic views are not popular amongst popular voters (working poors,...), contrary to his opinions about security in the streets. But Philippe de Villiers should keep his views on security, immigration and islamization and has economic views wich are not "neo-liberal". A Ipsos pollster, the best poll firm in France in my opinion, recently said that de villiers was more popular amongst workmen than Le Pen.  Not impossible. Hence, De Villiers could be the big surprise in 2007.

Last but not least, some pundits think that there will not be a fight between Sarkozy and De Villepin in 2007. Probably an alliance: Sarkozy President and Villepin PM. Just pundits of course... In this case, de villiers could make a good score.

Oh well, I like Viscount de Villiers too.

[Bono]

Do you have any polls for the parliamentary election?

[Bono]

Do you have any polls for the parliamentary election?

Parlm elections will occcur in june 2007, just after presidential election. The party of the president elected should win it.

Ok, but do you think the FN will win any seats this time?
BTW, how about you create a thread for the Flemish Municipal Elections?
Will the VB win Antwerpen?

[Bono]

A question to those from the trenches:
What are Le Pen's economic policies. You Umengus say they're Reganian. Can you elaborate on that. What does he specifically propose?

[Bono]

A question to those from the trenches:
What are Le Pen's economic policies. You Umengus say they're Reganian. Can you elaborate on that. What does he specifically propose?

http://www.lepen2007.fr/blog/index.php?budget

in french of course.

Thanks. My French is very rusty--it doesn't help that I never learned it properly (French class was basically just conjugate verbs; God, how I hate the passé composé) to begin with, but I think I can scrap with reading this.

[Bono]

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.

Right, I knew he's protectionist in regards to foreign trade, but some people, like Pat Buchanan, are protectionist in regards to foreign trade yet support free market policies domestically. I'm wondering if Le Pen is one of those, ie more of a paleo-conservative, or an economic populist.

[Bono]

A question to those from the trenches:
What are Le Pen's economic policies. You Umengus say they're Reganian. Can you elaborate on that. What does he specifically propose?

http://www.lepen2007.fr/blog/index.php?budget

in french of course.

Thanks. My French is very rusty--it doesn't help that I never learned it properly (French class was basically just conjugate verbs; God, how I hate the passé composé) to begin with, but I think I can scrap with reading this.

Just read it. His tax policy is pretty good, but his monetary policy of "full employment" instead of inflation control is horrendous.
What does he propose regarding health care, social security, welfare and education? I seem to remember something about school vouchers...

[Bono]

It seems like so far neither Sarkozy and Royal have exactly set the election alight (though Sarkozy seems to be very comparable to Thatcher or GW Bush in that people either love or hate him). I still think Sarkozy will win, but he's going to be a heck of a polarising President and will probably do France more harm than good in the long run.

Of course, you also think Thatcher did more harm than good.

[Bono]

It seems like so far neither Sarkozy and Royal have exactly set the election alight (though Sarkozy seems to be very comparable to Thatcher or GW Bush in that people either love or hate him). I still think Sarkozy will win, but he's going to be a heck of a polarising President and will probably do France more harm than good in the long run.

Of course, you also think Thatcher did more harm than good.

Of course she bloody did! Unless you're, perhaps, a buy-to-let landlord or a hedgefund manager, then yeah, I suppose she was bloody brilliant. But not if you're actually a normal person with an average income. And I'm not just talking about wealth or material gains here, since I happen to believe that some things are more important than money -- which is downright freaky, I know, but true.

But actually, Thatcher is quite an apt person to mention here to further illustrate my point about Sarkozy. I don't actually mean their similarities in policies (which I wasn't talking about to begin with), I meant more their style of politics. I don't actually care all that much what Sarkozy stands for. If he wants to privatise the sh!t out of France, then fine, let him. What gets me is this whole partisan & deliberately polarising attidude, this "get screwed" bullyboy mentality towards anyone who may not agree with your policies, so espoused by the likes of Thatcher, Bush and Sarkozy, which does little but divide people and turn them against each other and which, quite frankly, belongs into the dustbin of history.

The mentality you speak of is only a result of the constant bullying of the right by the left. According to pseudo-intellectual leftists, people on the right can never be clever, are constantly belittled and pushed aside, care only for their personal interests and those of the wealthy, etc. No wonder there eventually comes a reaction from the right against people who think they own the truth.

[Bono]

I am pretty good at predicting Russian election results,

Putin's candidate wins, how hard can it be?

[Bono]

If Royale wins expect Sharia law in france in 20-30 years

Oh, please. I'm no fan of Royal, but that's utter bullsh**t, and you know it.

If Sharia law were to lead France to scrap the CAP or leave the EU, it would be a good thing for the rest of the EU though.

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