A View from Abroad

Socialist Party HQ on Jour-J

As many of you know, I live about 45 seconds away from the Socialist Party headquarters here in Paris (see previous seething post about this here).  So I decided to check things out about an hour ago -- and document it for you.  The media circus has begun, all of rue Solferino is blocked off -- but the supporters have yet to get there.  Polls close at 20h00.

How's This For an Inaugural Ball?

Rumor has it that the place de la Concorde will be shut off from traffic and turned into a giant disco if Sarko wins.  Give me 27 hours,  I'll let you know.

The Sego and Sarko Show

As you probably know, the twelve or so candidates (and some of them were whack jobs, let me tell you) were whittled down to two finalists tonight, Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkosy, who will duke it out on May 6th.  Let me 'fess up right here & now that I am for Sarko, recognizing that he is an imperfect candidate at best, but far better for the country than Segolene.

To save time I will let you imagine how I would rant on for four paragraphs about how Sarko is pro-entrepreneur, how he understands that France desperately needs to foster it's small and medium-sized businesses, yet how I can understand that the French are wary of him and his pro-business stance, how not everyone practices (or even understands) my particular form of benevolent capitalism, blah blah blah.

The one thing that noted in particular were the speeches of Sarko and Sego -- and keep in mind that, being in PR, I understand the importance of shaping perception through both words and images.  Sarko's speech upon being named one of the two finalists:  confidential, presidential, hints of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and de Gaulle's passionate appeal to the French people.  Sego's speech:  not just laborious, but given in such a state of -- was it exhaustion?  Far worse than that.  She seemed in over her head, there was no joy in her at all.  The worst moment was when (horrifically), the lights in the room where her press conference was held went out, plunging the room into darkness, but there was just enough light that you could still see her face and her expression was so unpleasant that I don't even have words for it.  Here was a perfect chance to be gracious, to make light, to have poise -- for even if the cameras could not see her, her supporters in the room could -- and it was wasted.  I know she was under pressure -- haven't we all been pushed to our limits and had a similar thing happen? -- but it's all about how you handle yourself in the bad moments.  The good ones are cake.

Don't Tell the Husband ...

But I am starting to change my mind about Segolene Royal. Yes, a Socialist -- but she's looking like less and less of one. She recently suggested scrapping the notorious 35-hr work week (um, last time Mathieu and I worked a 35 hour work week, we were on vacation, BTW), and has suggested that first-time offenders be treated with discipline (shocker!) that instills hard work, honesty and includes community service. And she supports civil unions for gay people. Since when did she become a dream presidential candidate?

But you have to wonder -- is she really a Socialist? I mean, what's the difference between her & Sarkozy now (see quick & dirty analysis in Newsweek: link)? And will her relationship (not husband, for all of you gossipmongers!) with Francois Hollande, a leader of the Socialist party and, by the way, the father of 4 children, weather the storm? He condemned her stance, by the way -- THAT must have been a fun family evening, dinner at the Royal-Hollande house that night - heh heh.

Of course, Francois Hollande is one of the hypocrites I'm most fond of -- but he's making it way too easy for me. His rant on national TV in which he said "I don't like the rich" was a classic -- see for yourself. Even if you don't speak French, you can understand from the tone that the guy is just bats, and read some of Loic's blog while your at it: link.

Yes, yes, I know I am oversimplyfying things (I can just hear the comments from my French friends now) -- but I've got news for you: that's what voters do, too. They vote based on snippets of conversations that have been picked up by the media -- even out of context -- and repeated over and over again. And their wallets.

It's a Party Thing

Normally, I just write the French Socialists off as a bunch of hypocrites, along with the Communists. Not that I have a problem with their political ideology, mind you -- but the way they practice it seems a bit, um, suspicious. In the immortal words of Erik Norland (cf "CPE Protest" photos): "Have you ever seen a poor French Socialist/Communist?" I think not. Oh, and their party headquarters is about 30 seconds from where I live (instead of where it should be -- in the 20th arrondissment) and is one of the most beautiful, decked-out hotel particuliers (i.e., mansions) in the neighborhood. Must be worth a good at least 5-6 million euros. Hey, guys, how about you sell your fancy-schmancy HQ and actually help the people you are representing, instead of manipulating & confusing them into adopting policies that send the country into economic ruin? Now THERE'S a revolutionary idea.