ELECTION ROUNDUP OF US EDITORIALS

The French haven't voted yet, but the editorials of American daily papers have cast their vote.

French lessons As the French head into their presidential election this weekend, vive la difference (loosely translated: "long live the differences between us and them") might not be the watchword.

Quite the contrary. Americans have reasons to envy — dare we say imitate? — aspects of the French campaign between Nicolas Sarkozy ("Sarko") on the right and Segolene Royal ("Sego") on the left. Of particular note:

High turnout The French election has taken place in two rounds. Even in the first round, on April 22, 84% of voters turned out — compared with 64% in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. One contributing factor is that the French hold their elections on Sundays, a day off, unlike the U.S. choice of a Tuesday, a normal working day.

A first woman nominee. Even chauvinistic France has beaten the United States with its first female major-party nominee for president (though Hillary Clinton might not be far on her heels). Royal's gender has been far less of a factor in the race than her occasional foreign policy gaffes.

The quality of debate. Wednesday's televised Sego-Sarko debate electrified the country. More than 20 million people (nearly half of France's voting-age population) tuned in for a 2 1/2

-hour discussion of serious issues. By comparison, less than 30% of voting-age Americans watched the first George W. Bush-John Kerry debate in 2004.

A clear difference.The candidates offer French voters a stark choice. Sarkozy favors the kind of shock medicine Margaret Thatcher once applied to a Britain that, like today's France, had become a bloated welfare state. Royal would sustain more of the cradle-to-grave benefits and workers rights (it is virtually impossible for employers to fire employees, for example) that France increasingly can't afford.

Over the past 25 years, French GDP per person has declined from 7th-highest in the world to 17th. While the United States does not have the same challenges, it does need to face up to explosive Social Security and Medicare costs that this nation increasingly can't afford.

For Americans used to France's cultural condescension and its taunting of the United States as a bullying "hyperpower", here's a final surprise: Anti-Americanism and the Iraq war have barely figured (though Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant to France, is more pro-United States) in the campaign.

The clear message? Time to say au revoir to freedom fries. The 2008 U.S. election could benefit from a taste of France.

The French Choice Sunday's presidential election could shake up a country badly in need of change.

IT'S NOT OFTEN that U.S. policymakers have a clear favorite in a French presidential election. Usually even the most palatable candidate is someone like outgoing President Jacques Chirac, who defines his foreign policy agenda mostly by the ways it is opposed to that of the United States. One of the candidates in Sunday's election, Socialist S?gol?ne Royal, fits that mold: "I am not for a Europe than aligns with the U.S.," she bluntly declared in a television appearance last week. But Ms. Royal's opponent, Nicolas Sarkozy, is different, at least in attitude. He is openly admiring of the United States; in a visit to Washington last year he impressed both the White House and leading Democrats with his interest in improving French-American relations.

If Washington is quietly rooting for Mr. Sarkozy, who has a slight lead in the polls, it is not alone. The 52-year-old Hungarian-born rightist would be a natural partner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the likely new British prime minister, Gordon Brown, both of whom want to strengthen economic and strategic ties between Europe and the United States. As important, Mr. Sarkozy would be far more likely to undertake the economic reforms that France desperately needs if it is to avoid falling further behind its principal partners in an era defined by globalization.

Because it has shunned steps that Britain, the Netherlands and even Germany have taken to make their economies more competitive, France's economic position has steadily declined. In a quarter century it has tumbled from seventh to 17th in global rankings of income per capita. Mr. Sarkozy understands the reasons: a bloated public sector, ever-rising government spending and a mandatory 35-hour work week that the candidate rightly calls a catastrophe. If Mr. Sarkozy has been cautious about talking about remedies -- he has promised to ease overtime restrictions and cut taxes -- Ms. Royal has made it clear she would worsen the sclerosis. She has promised tens of billions of dollars in new spending on social programs without explaining where the money would come from.

Mr. Sarkozy's greatest weakness is his poisonous relations with France's Muslims, including the millions of poor who are isolated in grim suburbs around Paris and other big cities. In another break from French political orthodoxy, Mr. Sarkozy has advocated affirmative action measures to help poor minority youths get educations and jobs. But his tough response to rioting in the slums -- he talked about cleaning up "scum" with a power hose -- has made him a hated figure for many young Muslims. Some fear he would be greeted by new unrest early in his term.

Finding ways to defuse the growing alienation of the Muslim minority may turn out to be the next president's biggest challenge. But it is more likely to be solved if France's economy can be turned around and its chronically high unemployment rate brought down. Mr. Sarkozy would have a far better chance of pulling that off than would Ms. Royal. If he turned out to be a better friend to the United States than previous French presidents, that would be a valuable bonus.

Stark choice, but still French Will it be Socialist Segolene Royal or slightly pro-American Nicolas Sarkozy?

An INTERNET VIDEO clip now appearing on French computer screens depicts presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy fulfilling every Parisian's nightmares. Like the Fairy Godmother from Disney's "Cinderella" (and to the tune of "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," sung in Hungarian to reflect Sarkozy's immigrant roots), he waves his magic wand to twist the Eiffel Tower into the Golden Arches, transform the Louvre into Las Vegas and change the tricolor flag under the Arc de Triomphe into the Stars and Stripes. Quelle horreur!

Few things make a French politician more radioactive than the perception that he has too much affinity with the United States, which is why some of Sarkozy's past admiring statements about American economic success are coming back to haunt him. On Sunday, the center-right interior minister faces a historic runoff election against Socialist Segolene Royal that will mark a distinct change for France, regardless of the winner, because both represent a welcome new generation of political leadership after more than a quarter of a century under Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterrand.

Sarkozy is like a French Rudolph W. Giuliani — tough on crime, blunt, cosmopolitan, notoriously irritable. His platform is largely economic, with a distinct tinge of Anglo-American-style capitalism to it. He wants to cut France's welfare state and taxes and liberalize the country's 35-hour workweek. He has visited Washington and dared to be photographed with President Bush.

Royal, by contrast, is a more soothing and undefined figure who mixes her undeliverable socialist promises with a sharp disdain for Washington. "We will not go to get down on bended knees before George Bush!" she proclaimed at a rally last month.

Yet it would be a mistake to expect France to become more aligned with the U.S. under Sarkozy. Like nearly all French politicians, he deeply opposes the White House's Iraq policy, and, in what may soon prove dangerous, he favors pulling French troops out of Afghanistan.

When it comes to trade, both candidates are at heart French. Which is to say, protectionist. It's very unlikely that either would seek to dismantle the agricultural supports that have blocked progress on a world free-trade pact under the World Trade Organization's Doha round.

The contest between "Sego and Sarko" has attracted strong interest internationally because it represents such a stark choice: a nurturing mother figure who would protect the country from the forces of globalization, or a stern father who would crack the system open, if just a little, to make France more competitive. Whether either would bring noticeable change to France's external relations is an open question.

A couple more hours until this election is finished. And then in a couple of days Chirac will get the boot, Sego will get the finger, and France with its new leader will get the thumbs up. Let’s hope that Sarkozy’s momentum carries through to the next set of elections in June.

Sarkozy is like a French Rudolph W. Giuliani — tough on crime, blunt, cosmopolitan, notoriously irritable... Royal, by contrast, is a more soothing and undefined figure who mixes her undeliverable socialist promises with a sharp disdain for Washington.

With Sarko is projected to win, the author doesn't dare to mention the parallel between Royal and Hillary.

Poland, Australia, Canada, and now France moving to the right....(following GWB lead)...

You have to add Germany to the list, and drop Australia (Howard was elected (and re-elected) before W). On the other hand, we also lost Spain and Italy.

Today's the day!

France begins voting for president

Overseas voters kick-off French polls

French citizens wait to vote in in their presidential elections outside the French consulate in New York, May 5th, 2007. REUTERS/Chip East (NY)

French Conservative presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy is offered a cow bell and local cheese by supporters during a visit to the Plateau de Gliere in the French Alps, Friday May 4th, 2007. Final polls before runoff show Sarkozy ahead in French presidential elections.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

The quality of debate. Wednesday's televised Sego-Sarko debate electrified the country. More than 20 million people (nearly half of France's voting-age population) tuned in for a 2 1/2 -hour discussion of serious issues.

That was awesome. Here in the US it is considered by way too many "vulgar" to talk politics among friends/neighbors. I think the liberals have fomented that poisonous mindset to keep the sheeple ignorant/unthinking, and easily led, by two minute MSM soundbites.

“and a mandatory 35-hour work week that the candidate rightly calls a catastrophe. ...”
-—<>-—<>-—<>-—<>-—<>-—

You’re right: all leftist publications, but even they have to admit that France is now clearly now a disaster.

If I’m not mistaken, that ‘35hr’ silliness was to become “law” about 7-9 years ago. I remember being in endless discussion with people on the internet, probably some on FR, where we were naming that to be one of the most idiotic things that could ever be done.

That it would turn out to be catastrophic was easily foreseen as it was supposed to force employers to hire more people, as well as keep wages the same for less work. So very stupid. It took France and the liberal FRAUDcasters so long to realize how stupid... Meanwhile editorialists of Investor’s Daily, Wall Street Journal, and other conservative US business economists were absolutely right.

Do you think they’ll be listened to in the future?

From an article on Yahoo:

“By noon, turnout was over 34 percent, the highest midday rate in 33 years, the Interior Ministry said.”

I read this as good for Sarkozy. I was afraid that with the rather healthy lead he had, people would become complacent, or listen to the “don’t vote for any of those bums” message of the minor parties. With a strong turnout, that is less likely to be happening.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.