"You like politics? But you're American!"

I actually heard that a couple times last night. Looooove our reputation abroad; unfortunately, i can understand why we have earned it.

I went to a Nicolas Sarkozy political rally last night with Kate, at the invitation of Caro and Stan. It was interesting to see, he is running a campaign that's very similiar to the campaign strategies of the republicans, especially of the bush set. I'm not saying that his ideas, his platforms, or claims are the same, but he has a very similar style to Bush and other Old school American Politicans. The crowd there was definitely members of the business class, or as Kate and I said "attractive french men in well cut suits". There is a youth movement in support of Sarkozy, but they were definitely the minority last night, in fact, they were repeatly yelled at to be quiet and sit down by some of the older people. (gotta admit, that cracked me up...i've never been to a rally/support meeting where people have been yelled at for being too supportive) I also saw several people wearing "jeunes pour Sarkozy" tshirts who had grey hair...a jeune is someone 12-25 years old. Either there's an epidemic of premature greying hair in Paris, or i'm thinking Sarko's youth following might not be as strong as he'd like to appear.



Kate and I waiting to get in...notice the suits behind; French wanna-bes; Louis (Caro's brother), Alexis (Stan's good friend), Stan, Caro, and me after the rally; and Kate and I with some jeunes avec Sarko (fun story, I literally walked up to them and said "Hi, sorry to distrub you, but we're american, can we take a pic with you?". We got a wierd look and an ok)



It was a fascinating position to be in, to be in a politically charged environment as a basically objective observer. (Yes, the outcome of the French election will affect international relations, and as a result affect the US, and as a result affect me, but I can't do anything to affect the election, and whatnot) I read about the election almost every morning in the metro paper, and i've discussed it with my host family repeatedly, in classes, and with friends. I've really curious to find out the outcome, and to see how much it changes France's future.

I don't know how much the US media's been covering the election, but if not at all (or if you just haven't been paying attention) the main forrunners are Nicolas Sarkozy for the UMP party (the conservatives) and Sègolene Royal for the PS (the socialist Party). There are a total of twelve candidates, but there's only two more who are talked about with any real thoughts that they could affect the first tour. They're François Bayrou, with the UDF party (a moderate party) and Jean Marie le Pen with the FN (ultra conservative party). On sunday, the day of the first tour, or round of elections, the french people will pick their top two candidates. those two will have two more weeks of campaigning, and then will face each other again on may 6th for the second tour, which will decide the presidency.

That being said, I don't think I could bring myself to vote for either Sègolene or Sarkozy, were I given the opportunity. Sègolene comes off as someone who is inexperienced, creates a lot of faux pas, and has lots of ideas, but no idea how to actually carry them out. I also just don't agree with some of Sarkozy's ideas, especially in relation to immigration. He has some interesting economic platforms, and if he's elected i'll be very interested in what happens.