A French election about tolerance

The candidates are merely tolerated, but the contest's bigger issue: How much change can France tolerate?

from the April 25, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

Though his words have grown more cautious as the campaign has progressed, Sarkozy has positioned himself as the candidate more willing to change an economic climate that rigidly sets the work week at 35 hours and that creates barriers for employers seeking to lay off workers.

Such change is appealing to many troubled by economic conditions in a country in which the official unemployment rate sits at about 8.5 percent (some would put the unofficial rate higher) and the national debt keeps spiraling. France's gross domestic product per capita has fallen from seventh in the world to 17th in the past 25 years, according to The New York Times.

Royal, meanwhile, has raised concerns of her own, both in terms of her command of the issues and her ability to lead. While she has improved as a stump speaker, commentators criticize the vagaries of her campaign promises. Of late, she has unabashedly campaigned as woman and nurturer, sort of a "mother France" counterpart to Sarkozy's law-and-order image.

The candidates' blemishes didn't stop an astounding 84 percent of eligible voters from casting ballots in Sunday's first round, which winnowed the field from 12 to two. By contrast, 64 percent of Americans voted in the 2004 presidential election.

In this country, where dogs are allowed off leash and beneath the legs of owners in sidewalk cafes; where passengers punch bus tickets, if they wish, on something akin to an honor system; and where a scantily clad model on a billboard ad proclaims "avec moi, pas d'abstention" (with me, no abstention), issues of tolerance and how willing the French are to extend it to their governance are sure to influence the election outcome.

Few believe France is ready to abandon its traditions, its gracious sense of time used well but without haste, its sometimes stubborn independence from the United States and its European Union partners. But the degree to which it is willing to tolerate change and modernize its economic climate, and the degree to which it is willing to tolerate and embrace growing numbers of underemployed Northern African and other immigrants could help decide who wins May 6.

Whichever candidate comes out ahead, the new president will face considerable skepticism from an electorate with reservations about both candidates. No matter. If deliveries can be tolerated, presumably presidents can be, too.

• Jerry Lanson is a professor of journalism at Emerson College in Boston. He is living in Aix-en-Provence while on sabbatical.

1 | Page 2