In presidential race, French resign themselves to pragmatism
On Sunday, many will vote not for their favorite candidate, but for one who can win in the second round.
from the April 18, 2007 edition
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Yet not only leftists feel the pull of vote utile. A battle is shaping up on the right, which contains the largest segment of French voters. Le Pen this week called Mr. Sarkozy the racaille of French politics, and has accused him of stealing his ideas.
"The vote utile is a fact on both the right and left in this election," notes Jean-Luc Parodi of Sciences Po in Paris. "Le Pen wants the second round, but a quarter to a fourth of those who voted for him in 2002 now want Sarkozy. The 2002 election changed French thinking. The left felt Jospin was so qualified, that no one bothered to vote for him. This won't happen again."
Yet surveys supposedly conducted by the interior ministry – until recently headed by Sarkozy, – show Sarkozy and Le Pen in round two, with Le Pen edging out Bayrou and Royal.
Mr. Bayrou, a former sheep farmer turned politician predicted this week while campaigning in western France that "next Sunday I will be the vote utile." But Françoise Hollande, Ms. Royal's companion, father of her children, and head of the Socialist party, said last week that "the vote utile has to be made for France," a clear call to the left to rally behind the lady.
The vote utile moment raises cries from smaller hopefuls. "On April 22, vote for your ideas, don't vote against yourself. Vote for you," says Green Party candidate Dominique Voynet.
No one will accuse the French of lacking in contradiction, experts say. They are hungry for change, just not too much. They worry about new immigrants from North Africa, but feel cosmopolitan. They expect France to revitalize its industry, but aren't eager to give up a 35-hour work week. They hope to lead a unified Europe, but said "no" to a referendum on Europe two years ago. They want the good life, but not at great cost.
And in this election season in particular, when "undecided" has been the main utterance by the vox populi – the latest polls put the figure at nearly 50 percent – may bring a surprise come Sunday. Margins of error are growing wider in polls and surveys.
Paris is not France, experts point out. In Paris, those who don't want to talk about their vote are thought to back conservatives. Outside Paris, if you don't want to say, it may mean you will vote on the left.
"We don't want to tell you about money or who we are voting for. It is very French," says Romain, who works at a museum.
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