Meet Nicolas Sarkozy (also not-so-affectionately known here as Sarko the American), the frontrunner in the upcoming French presidential election. First round this Sunday, second round two weeks later.
Until a few weeks ago, he was Minister of the Interior. He’s the head of the largest conservative political party, the one Jacques Chirac belongs to. Last year, during the 9/11 anniversary, Sarko decided he needed to go to the US and lick him some Bush boot. Dubbya squeezed him in. Never too busy for a shine.
He went in search of some heroes for a photo op and found some firefighters who undoubtedly had no clue who he was but he was in a suit and had a camera crew in tow, so they indulged him.
At one point he said some not-too-cool stuff about his own country’s diplomatic efforts in relation to the invasion of Iraq (monsieur le président Chirac was none too pleased). This was when he wasn’t gushing about how much he loved America (big Miami Vice fan) and Israel.
He’s so repulsive in so many ways that it’s hard to figure out why he’s leading in the polls. He’s very pro-capitalism, which is utterly un-French, and he’s anti-immigration. Very into law and order, the iron fist variety. He’s about three feet tall, a bully with a Napoleon complex. He intimidates the media. He comes across as angry, ambitious, and underhanded. Think mobster. Major creep factor.
So why do they like him? One can only conclude that France, the last lefty bastion of the world, is finally being enveloped by the noxious cloud of conservatism, selfishnesss, and materialism that seems to be drifting over the oceans, outwards from America, gaining strength and momentum like a climate-change hurricane.
Sarko’s strongest opponent until recently was the elegant and fearless socialist candidate Segolène Royal. Now she’s being upstaged by a kinder, gentler (dare I say compassionate?) conservative, François Bayrou. I guess the French aren’t ready for a woman president either (give it up Hilary, it ain’t gonna happen).
Ségolène made the headlines and got her party’s nomination in part because she was having a conversation with the French via her blog. I guess Dorkozy’s camp thought he oughtta get himself an online presence too. Their misguided answer? Disco Sarko, an animated Sarkozy doing Travolta moves. Clearly a case of Horshack desperately wishing he were Vinnie Barbarino…
Revel in his ridiculousness. He may not be a joke for much longer.
Here’s a decent brief analysis of the candidates and political climate if you’d like more info (note, I don’t agree with everything she says about Ségolène).
I was listening to RFI yesterday and heard one of the candidates (Bayrou perhaps?) proclaiming himself the candidate for change. Would be funny if it wasn’t so sad, but I guess voters like to hear stuff like that. Change? What is that supposed to mean really? Anything the hearer wants. In the US “change” means “business as usual”: more corporate welfare and reduction of benefits to the workers.
Bayrou is left of Sarko but definitely right of center (but still well left of Dubbya and Co.). He’s packaged himself as center and his “change” is that he’s promising to bridge the left/right opposition, bring an end to the two-party tradition, and give France a balanced government. Why people believe this stuff I’ll never know. But he could win. As for change in the US, I get the sense that the only change most Americans care about at election time is whether their taxes are going to be lowered. I admire the French so much for maintaining a continuous discussion, in public and private, even when it’s not election time, about how things could or should be changed to make society function better and improve living conditions for all citizens. It’s interesting to me that the two countries’ revolutions happened around the same time and both post-revolution societies were built on Enlightenment ideals, but the two cultures followed such divergent paths and, while the French stuck with the fundamental values, Americans seem to have lost sight of them somewhere along the way.
re France and the US… I’m hoping for a rapprochement. France needs good beer and the US needs good cafés. Can’t we work something out?
I am following the French elections. I am myself an ex-Parisienne!
Sophia has many interesting posts about Sarkozy and the rest, I don’t know if you know her blog. Here it is:
http://lespolitiques.blogspot.com/
Thought it might interest you.
[...] Les Politiques has many informative posts on the subject Loopy Dorkozy, at the Frogblog [...]
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