France rejects female candidate

[bigdarryl]

She was supposed to be the Hillary Clinton of France.Just goes to show even in France its hard for a female to win the Presidency.They voted for this right wing nut case. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070507/tpl-uk-france-election-women-87aac06.html
Women voters shun Segolene Royal - Yahoo! News UK

[rinsd]

1. BD you should really stop reading Dick Morris (nt)

[bigdarryl]

3. What the hell are you talking about this is a Yahoo page story. Morris's name is nowhere on this

[rinsd]

8. That article had no mention of Hillary and Morris is the one pushing Hillary = Royal

[Colobo]

2. They didn't vote for her

because her message didn't seem to resonate with the French people. From what I've read, she seemed to be all over the place and would say anything to win.

I don't think her gender had anything to do with her loss.

[bigdarryl]

4. sounds like someone else i no.

[durrrty libby]

5. Someone you "no"? Haha haters can't spell!

[DFW]

15. You nailed it

I am in France twice a month (gotta go again tomorrow) for work,
and I know people from all walks of life there, speak the lagnuage
etc etc. They had no gender issue at all. They all liked her better
than Sarkozy, they just didn't like what she was saying (or not saying).

All she had to do was promise to look at liberalizing the restrictive
labor laws that inhibit French employers from hiring other Frenchmen,
and she would be president-elect now. But the unions own that party,
and what they say goes. France shuts down the second the CGT says "boo!"
and not even Sarkozy will be able to change that very quickly, if at all.

Paradoxical as ever, in France, the powerful unions support old laws that
inhibit employment, and the party that wants to liberalize those laws
to bring unemployment down gets labeled a right-wing nut case. Sarkozy
said nothing about eliminating people's right to health insurance or
schooling, nor will he. In the USA, he would have been labeled a left-wing
nut case!

[MADem]

6. France rejects SOCIALIST candidate. In favor of mean old rightie.

I really think the issue was all those dusky folks in the slums. I think this issue reveals a troubling and little discussed underbelly of racism in France by a subset of people who don't like their culture being "sullied" by those folks that came from the African littoral former colonies and the one-time protectorates in the Middle East. Those Syrians, those Algerians and so forth...they just aren't the coq au vin and creme brulee types, are they?

It's unkind to say, but I honestly think that subverted racism, more than gender, is driving the train.

If Royal were the wingnut, and Sarko the socialist, I think the headline would be reading "First Woman President Elected in Forward Looking, Progressive France" or some such horseshit.

[ccpup]

7. no, you're wrong

and, maybe, a little right. There are those in the suburbs who are dealing with an influx of immigrants who, because they can't find a job, can stir up a lot of trouble. And Sarkozy's promise to deal with that was reassuring to some.

But Ségolene was really all over the map with what she wanted to do! In interviews and the debate, she talked in circles, always coming back to "together we can accomplish anything". But she didn't offer any concrete plans, had no support from the Elephants (those old men who were angry that she was the candidate and WANTED her to fail) in her Party and, really, paled in comparison to the very efficient, organized Sarkozy who HAD plans he could explain and help the French understand.

Many French people I know voted for Sarkozy while holding their noses. They wanted to vote for Ségo, but were afraid of being taken down a very expensive, eventually fruitless Garden Path of Promises to Nowhere. The economy is bad enough without ringing up more debt on something she didn't prove would work because she couldn't offer anything concrete -- any numbers -- about it.

With Sarkozy now in place, a lot of people will be voting for a more balanced Legislature in order to hopefully curtail his more "diabolique" tendencies. It was the lesser of two evils and they went with the one they knew could handle the job instead of the one they HOPED could handle the job. I disagree, but I certainly understand.

[MADem]

10. I agree that the socialist didn't press her case effectively.

All I'm saying is that if you flipped them, and his words came out of her mouth, she'd have won, and everyone would be praising the forward-looking French, who like the Germans, have sufficient balls to vote for a woman, as it were.

They'd be patting themselves on the back. There'd probably be less talk about the sharp shift to the right, and more talk about "Hoo boy, a WOMAN!!!"

And I do think all these dusky types who've been rioting lately didn't help matters. Some of those who voted for Sarko are clearly hoping for a little "housecleaning" in that regard. He certainly tapped the "France for the French" type immigration curtailment themes, didn't he?

I also think he had a MUCH better Get Out the Vote machine, and that put him in a decisive margin for victory--it could have been closer, but I think his people worked it better. It'll be interesting to see some of the post election assessments after the smoke clears.

[ccpup]

13. you're right

in that Sarkozy had a better Get Out the Vote Machine. In fact, due to the Elephants in her Party who were literally steaming over her being the Nominee, the Socialists didn't offer Ségolene ANY type of Get Out the Vote Machine, other than what she could organize herself. They basically -- because they couldn't see past their misogynistic noses -- left her out in the cold and said "oh well, we'll do better 5 years from now". Problem is they haven't done well in a long, long time and a lot of fingers are pointing at Ségolene's partner, François Holland. If a magazine were to judge that couple's political future with Up or Down arrows, I think it'd be decisively Down. Or hers would be Sideways and his would be decisively Down.

I hope Sarko isn't as bad as we think he'll be. Or that a Legislature is elected that can keep a check on him. (fingers crossed)

[burythehatchet]

9. The Hillary Clinton of France??? That's a questionable observation

Segolene Royal is a classic Socialist, Hillary Clinton is a classic Corporatist...Polar opposites.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[durrrty libby]

12. classic waa waa waa

:nopity: :hurts: :dunce: :freak: :spank: :spank: :wow:


:argh: :nuke: :thumbsdown: :shrug: :cry: :banghead: :rofl:

[Mass]

14. Actually, Segolene Royal is probably closer to Obama in her

philosophy of power. She tried to change politics, to have people involved rather than continuing the very elitist and autocratic government style that Chirac had and that Sarkozy will continue.

Unfortunately, the media relayed that as "not knowing what she was talking about" and "not having a program", and unfortunately, some people fell for it, and other fell for the very racist, very pandering promises that Sarkizy made.

It is sad, but there is no chance that Hillary will have the same problem. She will probably sound as autocratic and traditional as Sarkozy. This said, I prefer the Obama side.