I'm NOT SORRY

...that Nicolas Sarkozy was elected président.

I'll elaborate in another blog entry. It's 2 a.m.; I have to go to bed.

Do you have an opinion about Sarko? Leave a comment.

Comments

[Betty C.]

Sarkozy ran a brilliant campaign and Royal ran a terrible one. I really didn't care for either candidate, but Sarkozy seems sincere for the moment about his plans and his role. I agree with a lot of what he says about the economy -- he has also set high goals, so he has his work cut out for him. On verra.

[coldbear]

I could not choose and voted "white".

Sarko did a very good "campagne", crystal clear communication and straight forward organisation. Coherent economy proposals, good team work around him. But what he said about genetic predetermination froze me. He also opposed "people who wakes up early to ... others" "You love France or you leave". Us against them.

Sego seemed to be so deaf to her advisers ! She proposed so many things that her head quarter was lost. She finally appeared to be the conservative candidate ! What will happen to her now will show how much she is hated in her own party.

I hope that Sarko will focus on economy matters urgently. But there is a danger of spliting France in two parts : "fonctionnaires" against "tax payers". We are prone to massive demonstrations, and there are seeds for riots. Hundreds of cars were burnt tonight ...

[Katherine]

My natural reaction is 'right wing = bad' but I don't really know enough about it all to make a comment, so I'll be interested to read what you think. At least Le Pen was kicked out early.

Anyway, we've got enough election shenanigans going off over here, hope it gets sorted soon.

[samantha]

I'm glad I didn't have to vote...having to pick the lesser of two evils is never an easy choice to make.

Do you go with Segolene, who equals no change and even possibly an increased deficit for France?

Or with Sarko, who means definite change but maybe not in the right direction (and five years of grèves et manifs)?

[Pumpkin]

I think Sarko really loves and cares about France and he is a man of action. I think he is intelligent and isn't afraid to tackle the problems in France. He isn't the kind of person that will be happy patching up the country. He will go after the root of the problems. It is about time someone in French politics is willing to do it.

At first, I didn't like him but after I LISTENED to HIM and not the t.v. I understood that he is the perfect man to get this country where it should be. He won't back down from what he believes while he will still keep the voices of the French people at heart.

But, this is my take on Sarko and one week ago I wouldn't have said the same thing.

[meredith]

I have mixed feelings on this. France needs to change it's modus operandi, I agree with Sarko on which way big busuness needs to go and with Ségo on education and health care.

[Betty C.]

I'm back in this debate. Ségolène desperately needed some "handling." But I think maybe she is too stubborn to be handled.

Somehow everything went topsy-turvy, Sarkozy ended looking like the "candidate for change" (after 12 years of his party being in power) and Royal like a rigid control freak ("rétablir l'ordre juste.")

I heard on France Info today that the two parties split the "workers" (lower-level employees and factory workers) almost 50-50! This is a slap in the face for the Socialist party who is supposed to be representing these "workers."

They also said 82% -- if I heard correctly, that seems huge -- of craftspeople who work for themselves and shopkeepers voted for Sarkozy! So there are definitely a lot of fed up, overworked, underpaid people in France who bought Sarkozy's arguments about respecting the value of work.

I noticed Royal rarely used the word "work."

One very impressive aspect of this election was the high participation rate. I also feel like the French were more open to discussion about this election than the past ones, because contrary to their philosophizing image, I feel they tend to be discreet about their political views.

Gee, I should have posted all of that on my own blog!

[Elisabeth]

I come from a family that was staunchly anti-Gaulist and always voted socialist. I just couldn't help but hope that Ségolène Royal would win. I am just a tad afraid of Sarkozy and, like Coldbear, I find "what he said about genetic predetermination" extremely scary. As Coldbear also mentioned, "he also opposed "people who wakes up early to ... others" (believing that hard work is the solution to all problems is naive at best, by the way) and said things like "you love France or you leave". He appears to be a divider more than a unifier.

In the speech he gave last night, he said that he loved all the French, and that he would not leave anyone behind. I hope that this is a promise that he will not break.

My take is that Ségolène lost because she ran an absolutely horrible campaign.

[zeno]

Yep... I would rather wake up next to Sego than Sarko.

[andie Foos]

Personally, I couldn't bring myself to vote for Ségolène, even though I tend to lean towards the left in my political opinions. Her campaign was awful and I just couldn't see her running a country. France needs not only a leader but also someone who is ready and willing to make change. Although I don't agree with all of the changes Sarko has in store, he does have some great points and is intelligent. The one I voted for didn't make it to the final round, so I didn't like either Sarko or Sego. My choice was finally made on who I thought would run the country the best and who would bring the change France so desperately needs to keep up with the rest of Europe.

[Rattling the Kettle]

The negative ads attacking him centered on how he's "too friendly" with the US and Israel. That's good enough for me!

[barb]

wow, all this is very interesting. definitely looking forward to reading your post, Ali because yeah, I heard a lot about this Sarkozy guy and he sounds scary. On the other hand I guess it's true I didn't hear much about her. Maybe that was the problem?

[Margaret]

I am left, but Sarko seemed to be saying the realistic things and in a more organized, presidential way. However, I anticipate beaucoup de greves et de manifestions--my prediction is this summer.

[Margaret]

Manifestations--that word is HARD to spell! I have to sound it out.