posted 02 May 2007 12:52 PM
Any thoughts on the debate? Sarko always seems to be looking up for approval, and Ségo appears quite confident. Sarko is trying to make it a debate about ideology, and Ségo is coming back quite confidently about issues and policies.
Despite my serious reservations about socialism (mainly that socialists always seem to be followed by extreme right-wingers like Harris and Thatcher), a Ségo victory would be a good day for women in politics.
posted 02 May 2007 03:37 PM
there have been plenty of socialist governments in places like Germany and Scandinvia and they don't seem to be followed by ultra rightwing governments at all.
From: Toronto | Registered: Sep 2002
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Red Partisan
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13860
posted 02 May 2007 05:09 PM
Your experience may be Scandinavian but mine is British and Canadian. One may argue that the German-Scandinavian governments were not socialist but social-democratic.
And how would you describe Bush's new poodle Angela Merkel?
posted 02 May 2007 06:06 PM
I'm not crazy about Angela Merkel, but the fact is that she is a socially liberal atheist from the former East Germany who is in a grand coalition with the SPD - it is hardly comparable to Thatcher or Harris.
BTW: The US didn't need to have a "socialist" President to get saddled with people like Nixon, Reagan or either of the Bushes - unless you consider Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton to be "socialists".
Sarkozy is considered to be VERY rightwing by French standards and if he wins the Presidency of France it won't be as a reaction to socialism - he will be coming after 12 years of Jacques Chirac - who is from the same party as Sarkozy!
Québécois in the North
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10727
posted 03 May 2007 02:28 PM
Ségolène Royal represents the right wing of the Parti socialiste Français.
And, by the way, it is not because the party's name is "Socialist" that they are indeed "socialists" (I mean, here in Canada we have a Liberal Party that is not exactly liberal, don't we).
In France, the Parti socialiste is associated with the moderated left.
From: Yellowknife | Registered: Oct 2005
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hatman
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posted 04 May 2007 05:41 PM
Incorrect. Royal is actually from the left of her party, at least according to one member of the SP that I know.
I heard that Royal totally tanked in the debate and made a fool of herself.
From: Ottawa South | Registered: Jul 2006
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Erik Redburn
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5052
posted 04 May 2007 06:04 PM
So says the rightwing media. Every word, every sound bite, every frame they play is designed to demoralize the left and further the sociopathic ambitions of the right. That is their only function now. We'll see if the French are still more sophisticated than we are.
From: Broke but not bent. | Registered: Feb 2004
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