I'm sure by now most of you know that the French are about to elect their next president.
There is so much information that I've learned (both by interest and by force in my classes) about the French system of elections and also about the specific candidates. However, the purpose of this post is just to provide a brief overview of the craziness happening over here right now during 'les élections françaises de 2012.' I could go on for days about the differences between the U.S. and French elections so if you're interested, we should talk :)
Here are some highlights and boyyyy has it been dramatic:
-We are now down to two candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande...
-Sarkozy is in the UMP party but is called 'The American' because he is on the more conservative side of the scale. (Although, he would still be considered very liberal on our scale because there is no such thing as U.S. Conservative party values here.) Also, I think they call him that because he is bff with Obama.
-Hollande is a Socialist. If elected, he wants to increase taxes by 75%. Republicans would freeeeaak!
-Hollande is the ex-husband of the person Sarkozy ran against last term, Segolene Royal. Holy French Clintons
-Marie Le Pen got 3rd place...she is scary. Google her party, le Front National, and you'll see why.
-The debates are the scariest thing I've ever seen. The two candidates face each other and not the audience. They literally just sit across the table from one another and fight. They interrupt each other and it gets HEATED. I was literally blushing the whole time watching it because it was like watching an argument! It really did not sit well with my American 'where-is-my-speaking-podium-and-glass-of-water' sensibilities. Although I can't understand 100% of what they are saying, it was clear that they really ruffled each others feathers. I thought they were going to jump across the table and go for each other's necks Mean Girls animal scene style.
Ahh, so scary!
So who do I think will win? Well, everyone I personally talk to wants Hollande. I haven't met a single Sarkozy supporter. However, it's always harder to get out an incumbent than to get in a new person and I think some Sarkozy supporters might not be speaking up when we get into discussions because it's en vogue to Sarkozy-hate right now. Personally, I'm hoping for Hollande because Sarkozy has spoken out about wanting to cut immigration in half so BOO to you Sarko in my strongest English accent! ;)
Stay tuned--we shall see what happens! May 6th at 20:00 will be the big announcement and it will be a nail biter! Vive la France!
