Which candidate would you have voted for ? - French version

[Peter the Lefty]

1965: Marcel Barbu/Francois Mitterand
1969: Michel Rocard/Alain Poher
1974: Renè Dumont/Francois Mitterand
1981: Huguette Bouchardeau/Francois Mitterand
1988: Antoine Waechter for the sake of protest/Francois Mitterand
1995: Dominique Voynet/Lionel Jospin
2002: Lionel Jospin/Jacques Chirac
2007: Dominique Voynet/Oh my God.  The horror.  Segolene Royal
2007: Francois Hollande/Francois Hollande.

[Formerly Californian Tony]

A couple changes compared to my past self:

1965 : Barbu/De Gaulle¹
1969 : Rocard/Poher
1974 : Sebag²/Mitterrand
1981 : Mitterrand/Mitterrand
1988 : Mitterrand/Mitterrand
1995 : Jospin/Jospin
2002 : Jospin/Chirac
2007 : Voynet³/Royal
2012 : Hollande/Hollande

¹ 1965 is a tricky one for me. The "institutional" left clearly wasn't prepared to be in power in a 5th republic-like setting, and Mitterrand was not the kind of person I would cast a personal vote for. On the other hand, I can't see myself voting De Gaulle or Lecanuet by the first round. So, by default, I pick a joke candidate who actually had interesting ideas and came across as a good person. On second round, De Gaulle was the right choice.
² European federalism rocks !
³ I was 14 when the vote was held, and at the time I was supporting Bayrou as the less horrible of the serious alternatives. As I grew up I eventually realized what an idiot Bayrou is so, at this point, I'd outright boycott the frontrunners and go for the stale but decent greeny.

[Rhodie]

From my rudimentary knowledge of French politics (pretty much going from the wikipedia articles)

1965: de Gaulle/de Gaulle
1969: Pompidou/Pompidou
1974: Royer/d'Estaing
1981: Chirac/d'Estaing
1988: Chirac/Chirac
1995: Chirac/Chirac
2002: Madelin/Chirac
2007: Sarkozy/Sarkozy
2012: Sarkozy/Sarkozy

[Peter the Lefty]

Legislatives:
1945: SFIO
June 1946: SFIO
November 1946: SFIO
1951: SFIO
1956: SFIO
1958: UFD
1962: PSU
1967: PSU
1968: PSU
1973: PSU
1978: PSU
1981: PS
1986: PCF
1988: PS
1993: Le Verts
1997: Le Verts
2002: PS out of sympathy
2007: PS
2012: PS

[State Comptroller Atkins]

1965: Mitterrand, Mitterand
1969: Defferre, Poher
1974: Mitterrand, Mitterand
1981: Mitterand, Mitterrand
1988: Waechter, Mitterrand
1995: Laguiller, Jospin
2002: Jospin, Chirac
2007: Royal, Royal
2012: Mélenchon, Hollande

[PASOK Leader Hashemite]

Apparently I last did this exercise in 2009, so it is amusing to see how my votes have changed since then. I'm doing this, again, with hindsight, and I'm trying to be serious (no Royer votes )

1965: Pierre Marcilhacy / Charles de Gaulle
1969: Michel Rocard / Alain Poher
1974: Guy Héraud¹ / Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
1981: Michel Crépeau / Valéry Giscard d'Estaing²
1988: Raymond Barre / François Mitterrand³
1995: Dominique Voynet⁴ / Lionel Jospin⁵
2002: Corinne Lepage⁶ / Jacques Chirac
2007: Dominique Voynet⁷ / Nicolas Sarkozy⁸
2012 (actual vote): Eva Joly / François Hollande

1 I maintain that Héraud is probably the best candidate out of all of those who ever ran for the French presidency, and this is probably the only vote I feel enthusiastic about.
2 sh**t vs. sh**tte, round one. I'll go with sh**t this time, if only because a Giscard reelection would probably have been less of a trainwreck that Mitterrand's first term. In the first round, Crépeau is the serious option, Georges Marchais is the better, more hilarious option.
3 sh**t vs. sh**tte, round two. I'll go with sh**tte this time, because Chirac is worse than Mitterrand
4 Yeah, even the first round field in 1995 sucked balls. I guess Voynet is the only palatable option, given that I wouldn't be keen on a first round vote for Jospin nor would I be too enamoured by Balladur.
5 Pretty easy, in retrospect. Chirac's first term was as much of a success as the Titanic's maiden voyage, and pretty much anything would have been better (besides, I quite like Jospin now)
6 Hesitated between Jospin and Lepage, all the candidates were pretty awful.
7 It speaks volumes about how horrible the 2007 field was that a moron like Voynet is, in retrospect, the least objectionable candidate.
8 sh**t vs. sh**tte, round three. Sarkozy is an asshole and was a terrible President, but I'm pretty confident that a Royal presidency would have been one of the worst presidencies on record.

[Formerly Californian Tony]

Your opinions have improved a lot, it seems.

[Speaker Dereich]

Apparently I last did this exercise in 2009, so it is amusing to see how my votes have changed since then. I'm doing this, again, with hindsight, and I'm trying to be serious (no Royer votes )

1965: Pierre Marcilhacy / Charles de Gaulle
1969: Michel Rocard / Alain Poher
1974: Guy Héraud¹ / Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
1981: Michel Crépeau / Valéry Giscard d'Estaing²
1988: Raymond Barre / François Mitterrand³
1995: Dominique Voynet⁴ / Lionel Jospin⁵
2002: Corinne Lepage⁶ / Jacques Chirac
2007: Dominique Voynet⁷ / Nicolas Sarkozy⁸
2012 (actual vote): Eva Joly / François Hollande

1 I maintain that Héraud is probably the best candidate out of all of those who ever ran for the French presidency, and this is probably the only vote I feel enthusiastic about.
2 sh**t vs. sh**tte, round one. I'll go with sh**t this time, if only because a Giscard reelection would probably have been less of a trainwreck that Mitterrand's first term. In the first round, Crépeau is the serious option, Georges Marchais is the better, more hilarious option.
3 sh**t vs. sh**tte, round two. I'll go with sh**tte this time, because Chirac is worse than Mitterrand
4 Yeah, even the first round field in 1995 sucked balls. I guess Voynet is the only palatable option, given that I wouldn't be keen on a first round vote for Jospin nor would I be too enamoured by Balladur.
5 Pretty easy, in retrospect. Chirac's first term was as much of a success as the Titanic's maiden voyage, and pretty much anything would have been better (besides, I quite like Jospin now)
6 Hesitated between Jospin and Lepage, all the candidates were pretty awful.
7 It speaks volumes about how horrible the 2007 field was that a moron like Voynet is, in retrospect, the least objectionable candidate.
8 sh**t vs. sh**tte, round three. Sarkozy is an asshole and was a terrible President, but I'm pretty confident that a Royal presidency would have been one of the worst presidencies on record.

I've been wondering for a while Hashemite; how do you get to leftists/green party out of a positive political matrix score? From your post history I'd expect you to be much closer to Antonio.

[Peter the Lefty]

Oh, and in 2017, if Hollande keeps governing like this: Jean-Luc Melenchòn. 

[Putting the 'red' in 'redneck' since 1991]

1965: Jean Lecanuet (Popular Republican Movement) / Charles de Gaulle (Union for the New Republic)
1969: Gaston Defferre (French Section of the Workers' International) / Alan Pohler (Democratic Centre)
1974: Jacques Chaban-Delmas (Union of Democrats for the Republic) / Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (Independent Republicans)
1981: Francois Mitterrand (Socialist Party) / Francois Mitterrand (Socialist Party)
1988: Francois Mitterrand (Socialist Party) / Francois Mitterrand (Socialist Party)
1995: Lionel Jospin (Socialist Party) / Lionel Jospin (Socialist Party)
2002: Jean-Pierre Chevènement (Citizens' Movement) / Jacques Chirac (Rally for the Republic)
2007: Ségolène Royal (Socialist Party) / Ségolène Royal (Socialist Party)
2012: François Hollande (Socialist Party) / François Hollande (Socialist Party)

1958: French Section of the Workers' International
1962: French Section of the Workers' International
1967: Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left
1968: Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left
1973: Socialist Party
1978: Socialist Party
1981: Socialist Party
1986: Socialist Party
1988: Socialist Party
1993: Socialist Party
1997: Socialist Party
2002: Socialist Party
2007: Socialist Party
2012: Socialist Party

[PASOK Leader Hashemite]

What do you have against Mitterrand between 1965 and 1981?

[RogueBeaver]

1965: Charles de Gaulle (UNR)
1969: Georges Pompidou (UNR)
1974: Valery Giscard d'Estaing (UDF)
1981: Valery Giscard d'Estaing (UDF)
1988: Raymond Barre (UDF)/Jacques Chirac (RPR)
1995: Edouard Balladur (RPR/UDF)/Jacques Chirac (RPR)
2002: Jacques Chirac (UDF)
2007: Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP)
2012: Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP)


1958: UNR
1962: UNR
1967: UNR
1968: UNR
1973: UDR
1978: RPR
1981: RPR
1986: RPR
1988: RPR
1993: RPR
1997: RPR
2002: UMP
2007: UMP
2012: UMP

[Jerseyrules]

1965: Charles de Gaulle (UNR)
1969: Georges Pompidou (UNR)
1974: Valery Giscard d'Estaing (UDF)
1981: Valery Giscard d'Estaing (UDF)
1988: Raymond Barre (UDF)/Jacques Chirac (RPR)
1995: Edouard Balladur (RPR/UDF)/Jacques Chirac (RPR)
2002: Jacques Chirac (UDF)
2007: Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP)
2012: Francois Bayrou (DM) / Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP)


1958: UNR
1962: UNR
1967: UNR
1968: UNR
1973: UDR
1978: RPR
1981: RPR
1986: RPR
1988: RPR
1993: RPR
1997: RPR
2002: UMP
2007: UMP
2012: UMP

[You kip if you want to...]

1965: François Mitterand/François Mitterand
1969: Jacques Duclos/Alain Poher
1974: François Mitterand/François Mitterand
1981: François Mitterand/François Mitterand
1988: François Mitterand/François Mitterand
1995: Lionel Jospin/Lionel Jospin
2002: Lionel Jospin/Jacques Chirac
2007: Ségolène Royal/Ségolène Royal
Primaire Citoyenne 2012: Arnaud Montebourg/François Hollande
2012: François Hollande/François Hollande

In terms of 2017, Hollande again if we're going off his first 3 months. If the UMP keeps going how it's going though, 2017 could turn into an "anyone but Marine" like 2002.

[PASOK Leader Hashemite]

Big fan of the Stalinist drone?

[Sibboleth]

Yes that... does... stick out like a sore thumb.

[You kip if you want to...]

Main none rightist.

[Formerly Californian Tony]

Main none rightist.

It's not like he had more chances to win than Defferre or Rocard...

[PASOK Leader Hashemite]

There's also the matter that old Jacques was a... uh... Stalinist?

And yeah, if he had made the runoff, he wouldn't have gotten over 30% of the vote.

[Reagan and Thatcher's Long Lost Son]

1958: de Gaulle
1965: de Gaulle/de Gaulle
1969: Pompidou/Pompidou
1974: Royer/Giscard d'Estaing
1981: Chirac/Giscard d'Estaing
1988: Chirac/Chirac
1995: Chirac¹/Chirac
2002: Chirac/Chirac
2007²: Sarkozy³/Sarkozy
2012: Stayed home

1 - Would have been tempted to vote for de Villers in the first round, wouldn't due to his FN-like tendencies (smearing certain nationalities/ethnicities of immigrants, for example).
2 - May have stayed home that election.
3 - See subscript 1.

[Sibboleth]

Would have voted for Mitterrand - I happen to despise the man but that's not really the point - in 1965, 1974, 1981 and 1988, for Jospin in 1995 and 2002 (Chirac in the second) round, for Royal in 2007 and for Hollande in 2012. So far, so obvious. I am a boring person.

Which leaves, of course, 1969. Rocard or Defferre, which is an interesting choice when you think about it. Thinking about how I think about politics now, and how hypothetical me would have thought about politics in France in 1969 (to the extent that that's even possible), then I suspect that there is no choice at all and that the answer is Defferre. Like a more successful, more corrupt and less convicted version of my man T. Dan Smith.

Main none rightist.

Not really how things worked then. You were a Commie or you weren't, you know?