Sarko, with at least 55%

That's my prediction for tomorrow.

Ségolène Royal, a candidate who was way too far Left and whose primary attraction was merely in the fact of being a woman, will become a shining example for Hillary Clinton, since the Democrats in the States seem determined to make the same mistake as the Socialists made in France: Turn an election that was almost a "lock" into a clear and easy victory for the party of the relatively unpopular president who has been in power for two terms now.

And to be perfectly honest, it doesn't even bother me too much that the Democrats are so determined to make that same mistake. I dislike the Republicans and their neo-con nonsense, but I dislike the Democrats even more.

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Not exactly your best kept secret

The neo-conservative philosophy has only been a measure of the current administration and the likes of Tom Delay.

Most of the GOP in Congress actually grew a pair since '06, since they saw the writing was on the wall. Go figure, elections actually matter.

I think you're probably right Async.
But then, from what I've been seeing, Bayrou seems to have been leaning into Royal's direction rather heavily and, while not directly endorsing her, still making it pretty clear that he'd like people to vote for her (i.e. by attacking Sarko much more than Royal).

Of course, some cynics might argue that he knows exactly who's gonna win (NOT Royal) and is therefore trying to establish his new party and winning over votes from the people who lose.

^ In any case, Sarko blew Ségolène away in the debate. Even the radical-left "France Culture" (a state-sponsored propaganda machine for the Socialists) was only able to convince themselves that the two of them were "about even." Coming from them, that's an admission that she was downright unpresidential.

The latest polls I saw said about 50% of the people are decided to vote for Sarkosy, about 30% are decided to vote for Royal, and the others aren't yet sure. (This was a couple of days ago, just after the debate.) That means that even if Royal gets 75% of the "undecideds" she still loses by a fair margin. (And nearly 70% expect her to lose, according to another poll. Since many people like to vote for a "winner," being the clear front-runner will help Sarko even more.)

I'm really not expecting any surprises tomorrow. The surprise was a few months ago. I thought the Socialists had a pretty sure win on their hands, but they managed to throw it away in classic style!

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Yes, but Royale is hot!

Anyhoo, I bet the Dems go with Obama, not Hilary...though it'll be tight.

Ségolène Royal has said that if she loses violence will break out. Should be interesting to see if it is true and who starts it.

Have they talked about that in France?

That almost sounds like a threat, or a subliminal dare.

Now that she's made that comment, the self-fulfilling likelihood of it in fact happening has already greatly increased.

It's the Mexican election revisited. Modern politicians simply refuse to accept it when they lose elections.

OMG...something Gore really did have a hand in inventing

Haven't heard it, but I have spent over five of the last six weeks outside of France (four in Madagascar and over a week in Switzerland) so I'm not really up on all the news.

But then, it isn't really news. Violence always breaks out in France.

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You'd think France would start running out of automobiles to torch.

A good argument for limited government: if your side/candidate/party loses, you don't have so much personally at stake...

Okay, I haven't been following this. But I heard that the right-wing candidate had started adopting the policies of the National Front to an extent in an attempt to steal their votes, and had even offered them some sort of role in government. Is this true?

If so, it is very worrying indeed. The French need their heads examined.

a vital part of their economic policy...

The latest French innovation: self-lighting automobiles.

Oh those wacky French yutes!

Somebody's gotta buy those Renaults...

They're selling like...wildfire!

They're definately one hot ride.

And talk about power! You can do a burnout with one while it's parked!

"Pierre, I love your new Renault! It is--as zee Americans say--'smokin' hot!'"

Don't give a shit, with at least 100%.

You heard wrong. Sarkozy has repeatedly and openly denounced the racism of the National Front. That kind of talk is only the nonsense of those who think that anyone who wants to take strong measures to deal with violence in the suburbs is evil. It's what the left has been trying to pin on Sarko for a year now, but it's actually working against them, because more people are happy with it than opposed to it.

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*Throws grenade into room and shuts door*

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people were happy with those trains that ran on time.

Wrong country.

This is Henryhill you are talking to. He gets his info from the far left so of course it must be true in his world.

It's the same nonsense in America where if you are against ILLEGAL immigration you almost always get tagged as a racist. Funnily enough it's backfiring on the left here as well.

I would hope so. The wealthy are among the biggest beneficiaries of illegal immigration and, except for the Hollywood wealthy, trend somewhat more right than the middle class and the poor.

Occupied France was just as nasty.

True. They shipped plenty of jews to their deaths.

What "strong measures" does he want to take?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/.../in_pictures_french_voters_at_play/html/2.stm

Crime, Taxes, Welfare and Outsourcing. Yes, the French are nothing like us!