France's Sarkozy fights to keep job as voters to go polls - Polidicks

[QUOTE]Paris (CNN) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy cast his ballot Sunday in the country's presidential elections as he fought to keep his job in the face of challenges from nine other candidates. Sarkozy voted with his wife Carla Bruni in Paris. Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, who has mounted a strong effort to unseat the center-right Sarkozy, voted earlier in the city of Tulle. He urged the left to unite behind him as he cast his vote. "We must bring together the left, and before we bring together the left, we must bring together the Socialists. It's a process, and I think that I have the capacity to do it," he said. Pierre Oriacombu, a business consultant, told CNN he was voting for the incumbent. "We have a lot of problems, and I think Nicolas Sarkozy does a better job with these problems than many others," he said. But Julien Ceval, voting at the same polling station as Sarkozy and Oriacombu, is backing Hollande. "We need to stop Nicolas Sarkozy and to make a change," said Ceval, an engineer. "I'm not really sure Hollande is the man who will change France but I want to try." More than a quarter of French voters had cast ballots by noon, the Interior Ministry announced. That put turnout on pace to be lower than when Sarkozy was elected in 2007, but higher than in 2002, when his predecessor Jacques Chirac was voted in for his final term. A polling station in Toulouse, in the south of the country, had a steady stream of voters, mostly elderly people, but also including some families dragging along little children and shopping baskets. Officials in Toulouse say they are hoping for 70% turnout, and said voting was going smoothly. Voting started Saturday in France's overseas territories, including Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Martinique and French Polynesia. Voters in mainland France headed to the polls Sunday. In addition to Sarkozy and Hollande, candidates include Jean-Luc Melenchon on the extreme left, Marine Le Pen on the extreme right, centrist Francois Bayrou and Eva Joly of the Greens. Melechon, Le Pen and Bayrou had double-digit support in opinion polling ahead of the vote, behind the two frontrunners. Last week, polls suggested Sarkozy was trailing Hollande going into the first round of voting. French law forbids the reporting of exit poll results on election day itself. The economy and jobs have been key election issues, as France struggles to overcome low growth and a 10% unemployment rate. Sarkozy, the flamboyant politician who has led the country since 2007, told Le Figaro newspaper Thursday that voters had a "crucial choice" to make for their country. He pledged new strategies for economic growth and job creation, saying France was seeing signs of recovery this year. Hollande, a center-left candidate, called for a European Central Bank rate cut in an interview Friday on French radio station Europe 1. "There are two ways we can go. The first is to lower interest rates if we indeed believe this is a way to support growth. And I believe it is, and that the European Central Bank should go in that direction," Hollande said. The second way, he told Europe 1, "would be to lend directly to states themselves, rather than the chosen path, which has been to support the banks." Asked if, as president, he would participate in a U.N.-led military intervention in Syria, Hollande said: "Yes, if it is at the request of the United Nations, we would participate in this intervention." Sarkozy, who has been vocal on the international stage, told Europe 1 on Thursday that France was at the center of diplomatic efforts to put pressure on Syria over its crackdown on dissidents. In an interview Friday with CNN affiliate BFM-TV, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe suggested Hollande was jumping on the bandwagon with regard to Syria. "The problem with Francois Hollande is that in matters of foreign affairs, he is always running behind the train," he said. "France's position has long been known; we will participate in military operations under a U.N. mandate, but when all is said and done, France is not a spectator at the United Nations, it doesn't wait for U.N. decisions; it is a player, it creates solutions and all that's around them, as we have been doing now for weeks and weeks." A survey from CSA for BFM-TV, published Friday, gives Hollande 28% of the vote in the first round to 25% for Sarkozy. If no candidate wins an absolute majority, a runoff election between the two with the most votes will take place May 6. A second round matchup between the two front-runners would see Hollande extend his lead to 57% support, compared with 43% for Sarkozy, the survey suggests.[/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/22/world/europe/france-election/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]

Oui Oui Mon Ami

There is no way he's gonna get elected again.

It will be interesting to see if Sarkozy can beat off his challengers. If so, will he act with speed and beat them off quickly (first round) or will he take longer to finishing beating them off

[QUOTE=smurfy;35672791]It will be interesting to see if Sarkozy can beat off his challengers. If so, will he act with speed and beat them off quickly (first round) or will he take longer to finishing beating them off[/QUOTE] why smurfy. why.

Let's hope socialists will prevail once again!

allez vous faire foutre Sarkozy

I wouldn't mind seeing Mélenchon or Hollande win. I know that Mélenchon is a bit too radical for most, and that he won't be getting in because of that, but Hollande wouldn't be bad, either.

Hollande says he'll put a 75% on the super-rich to cut the deficit, basically what people like Occupy Wall Street have been calling for. Should be cool to see someone actually do it

[QUOTE='[Seed Eater];35672864']I wouldn't mind seeing Mélenchon or Hollande win. I know that Mélenchon is a bit too radical for most, and that he won't be getting in because of that, but Hollande wouldn't be bad, either.[/QUOTE] Melenchon wants to end austerity, he is pretty much the best candidate for the current economic climate.

He has a really hot wife.

[QUOTE=shian;35673195]He has a really hot wife.[/QUOTE] which one [editline]22nd April 2012[/editline] WHICH ONE

[QUOTE=smurfy;35673207]which one [editline]22nd April 2012[/editline] WHICH ONE[/QUOTE] The one on the right [img]http://www.politicalsip.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/carla-and-michelle.jpg[/img] [editline]22nd April 2012[/editline] NO FUCK FUCK I MEAN LEFT

[QUOTE=Earthen;35672957]Melenchon wants to end austerity, he is pretty much the best candidate for the current economic climate.[/QUOTE] Downright ending austerity would be a shit move in my opinion, as much as we dislike those measures we still have to take a few of them so we can catch the fall. I agree that the current measures are not enough/badly directed (come the fuck on you won't fix anything by weakening out the entire school system you monkeys) but they should be changed rather than downright erased.

tu es fromage, mate.

[QUOTE=smurfy;35672916]Hollande says he'll put a 75% on the super-rich to cut the deficit, basically what people like Occupy Wall Street have been calling for. Should be cool to see someone actually do it[/QUOTE] Hollande seems to be the one with the most rational ideas. Everyone else either throw shit speeches that don't mean shit with generic phrases all over the place, or are relying on what is closer to an utopia than an actual possible future.

François Bayrou is the best because he doesn't have insane plans to tax tons of people & is actually willing to make significant cuts to France's bloated budget. Yay Centrism! Too bad he has no chance of winning though. François Hollande is definitely going to win. He is sorta like the French Mitt Romney in the way everyone is voting for him simpy because he is NOT Sarkozy. Nobody really knows him & he has not done all that much to prove himself.

I voted, Hollande and Melenchon have a good chance.

[QUOTE=person11;35673603]François Bayrou is the best because he doesn't have insane plans to tax tons of people & is actually willing to make significant cuts to France's bloated budget. Yay Centrism! Too bad he has no chance of winning though. François Hollande is definitely going to win. He is sorta like the French Mitt Romney in the way everyone is voting for him simpy because he is NOT Sarkozy. Nobody really knows him & he has not done all that much to prove himself.[/QUOTE] I have a very hard time taking Bayrou seriously. He doesn't have much charisma for starters, and I think he already knows he's not gonna win, thus why he's making a lot of exaggerated promises he just couldn't hold if he ever was president. I can't remember who said it earlier this year but a lot of candidates are mostly here as an act of presence rather than to seek an actual presidency because they are being realist and know they just won't be elected, so they can exaggerate a lot more with their promises than the candidates with an actual chance to pass through like Hollande or Le Pen (I can't believe we came to the point where freaking Marine Le Pen has a chance to actually get elected, what a shame)

[QUOTE=Earthen;35672957]Melenchon wants to end austerity, he is pretty much the best candidate for the current economic climate.[/QUOTE] No no no no no Mélenchon wants minimum wage at 1,700 bucks That would absolutely kill most small companies and make inflation even worse

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;35673673]I have a very hard time taking Bayrou seriously. He doesn't have much charisma for starters, and I think he already knows he's not gonna win, thus why he's making a lot of exaggerated promises he just couldn't hold if he ever was president. I can't remember who said it earlier this year but a lot of candidates are mostly here as an act of presence rather than to seek an actual presidency because they are being realist and know they just won't be elected, so they can exaggerate a lot more with their promises than the candidates with an actual chance to pass through like Hollande or Le Pen (I can't believe we came to the point where freaking Marine Le Pen has a chance to actually get elected, what a shame)[/QUOTE] From what I have seen, Bayrou's promises are a lot more realistic than raising taxes & spending in this economic climate. Sarkozy has also been exploring Islamophobia to attract would be Le Pen voters. & Hollande has no charisma either. You are right that plenty of candidates have been making insane promises though, even Sarkozy & Hollande. Whoever wins would have to break those promises in practice, unfortunately. [editline]22nd April 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;35673681]No no no no no Mélenchon wants minimum wage at 1,700 bucks That would absolutely kill most small companies and make inflation even worse[/QUOTE] Not to mention he promised a 100% tax rate for the highest invoke bracket. Talk about invoke limits!

[img]http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/007/191/tumblr_kzrbzi8SE31qaw421o1_500.png[/img] omlette du fromage

Omelette du fromage for president

Le Sarkozy être jambon

The results of the first ballot were just announced. Sarkozy and Hollande will be at the second ballot, Le Pen comes third.

Let's go Mélenchon!

[QUOTE=danielmm8888;35674443]Let's go Mélenchon![/QUOTE] He's already off tracks now

[quote=BBC News]It is the first time a French president running for re-election has failed to win the first round since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.[/quote] RIP Sarkozy

Wait that's bullshit, Chirac didn't win the first round in 2002, he had to go for a second ballot.