France 2012: the official thread

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I never read the news, but this headline was hilarious:

Le candidat Sarkozy défendra le gouvernement « du peuple, par le peuple et pour le peuple »

I see he's gonna full-blast populist on us.

Oh Jesus Christ.

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How is an idiot like Sarkozy the president of anywhere? Would basically anyone but Sego have won in 2007?

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I love how just about everything sounds worse when you imagine it coming from Sarkozy's mouth.

Yes, it does
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vq_1xt6vuY

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And here's one Twitter account that I won't be following: https://twitter.com/#!/NicolasSarkozy

Is he really using "A Strong France" as a slogan? Talk about original...

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And here's one Twitter account that I won't be following: https://twitter.com/#!/NicolasSarkozy

Is he really using "A Strong France" as a slogan? Talk about original...

"My opponent has never run anything except his parliamentary office" would be another good slogan...

Well, it worked well enough for John McCain.

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Make your own France Forte poster

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Neither of them beat this monstrocity.

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Marine on Sarko: "La France Morte".

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I'm not the poll guy, but Ifop's tracker today shows the narrowest first-round gap:

Hollande 29% (-0.5)
Sarko 27% (+1)
Marion 17.5% (+0.5)
Bayrou 11% (-1)
Melenchon 9% (+0.5)
Joly 2.5% (nc)
Villepin 2% (-0.5)

The runoff gap remains 56-44. It has barely moved up or down since they started this tracker.

Sarko's getting a bump with the spotlight having been on him for the past few days. To be expected.

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...Montebourg for PM though ofc

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...Montebourg for PM though ofc

If you're being serious I must say it's always very enjoyable to see how comments from abroad can be exotic.

I was joking

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Found out yesterday that I have what's basically my final French exam the morning after the first round. Great.

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Francois meeting with Miliband today in London, and not David Cameron. I like Hollande more and more every day.

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Actually, I think that it's Cameron who refused to meet him

Yes, that would fit in with what we know of the man. Cameron, that is.

What? Now that's pathetic. Relations with Sarko are frosty enough never mind a PS president.

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Actually, in this video, Hollande answers that question directly:
"I hadn't requested to meet with David Cameron, today my priority was to meet my fellow friends from the Labour party, and maybe one day - if I manage to convince the French on May 6th - then I will meet Cameron. But for now, as you know, Cameron and Merkel and the Spanish conservative leader Rajoy are all backing Sarkozy."

Ah, I see. I know Merkel's openly backing Sarko and i'm sure Rajoy and Dave are privately hoping. If anything, their support for Sarko would drive me further towards Hollande, if I was French.

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Just been watching Francois in Lyon tonight. I remember how awful a candidate I thought he'd be, i'm glad i've been proved wrong!

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F my non-existent language skills.

Most convenient election ever. Need an A in French in June for Uni.

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Hollande pulls a Romney on this millionaires tax pledge:
http://www.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2012/breve/2012/03/01/75-d-imposition-hollande-etait-contre-il-y-a-un-an_1650847_1471069.html

He basically said such a high rate would be "confiscatory" and that the rich would just start using offshore accounts in January 2011.

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Sarkozy has already lost. It's too late now for him to come back.

Francois, president! Francois, president!

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Okay, this is over.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/12/sarkozy-received-42m-from-gaddafi-to-fund-2007-election-campaign_n_1339333.html?ref=uk

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But Sarko has no hope in the second round, right?

If the PS lose this, I swear to god...

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The Wall Street Journal calling Sarko 'Nicolas Le Pen' because of his immigration policy.

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The Wall Street Journal calling Sarko 'Nicolas Le Pen' because of his immigration policy.

He also was attacked in the EP over those.

Romney style pandering to steal votes for the far-right. "LOOK! I can be extreme and controversial as well!"

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Oh, and Francois met with Rubalcaba today in Spain, following on from his meeting with Miliband a fortnight or so ago. Nice to see than not all of Europe's politicians (ergo, Merkel, Rajoy, Cameron) are right-wing hacks.

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Merkel calls it for François Hollande as she prepares herself for his "eventual victory".
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2012/03/24/merkel-hollande-sarkozy-allemagne_n_1376843.html?ref=france

Although, I hope President Hollande makes it as awkward for these right-wing governments (Cameron, Merkel, Rajoy, etc.) when it comes to their reelection bids as they've made it for him.