CNN's Situation Room asks: "[C]an what happened in the French election mimic our own race for president?"
SUMMARY: CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Carol Costello drew an analogy between the French
presidential election and a possible 2008 matchup between Hillary Clinton and
Rudy Giuliani, misleadingly suggesting that the victory of "law-and-order,
plain-talking conservative" Nicolas Sarkozy in France bodes well for
Giuliani -- whose actual record on security issues has come under considerable
criticism -- and referring to Clinton as a "liberal woman" who is
similar to Sarkozy's opponent, the socialist Ségolène Royal.
On the May 8 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer and contributor Carol Costello drew an analogy between the May 6 French presidential election between conservative UMP party candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal and a potential U.S. presidential contest in 2008 between former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Blitzer and Costello referred to Clinton as a "liberal woman" who is similar to the socialist Royal, and suggested that the victory of the "law-and-order, plain-talking conservative" Sarkozy bodes well for Giuliani.
Costello reported that Giuliani had noted approvingly a May 7 column by the New York Post's Fred Siegel, headlined "A French Rudy," during a recent campaign stop. The column drew parallels between the personas, policies, and campaign styles of Sarkozy and Giuliani, concluding that they were very similar. Costello added: "And when a law-and-order, plain-talking conservative candidate wins, French or not, some say Giuliani could not resist" mentioning it, implying that Giuliani is also a "law-and-order, plain-talking conservative." Costello also called Sarkozy a "conservative strong-on-security kind of guy running against a liberal woman. Sound familiar?" But despite the media's frequent references to Giuliani as "America's Mayor" and the "hero of 9-11," his actual record on security issues has come under considerable criticism. As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, in their book Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 (HarperCollins, 2006), Village Voice senior editor Wayne Barrett and CBSNews.com senior producer Dan Collins cited several of what they presented as Giuliani's terrorism-related failures before, during, and after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including his decision to put his terrorism command center in the 7 World Trade Center building, which collapsed on 9-11.
Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer introduced Costello's segment by referring to the comparisons made between the French and U.S. presidential elections as "interesting correlations." Following Costello's report, he asked Bill Maher, host of HBO's Real Time, what he thought of "this comparison, the election in France, where you had a liberal woman running against a conservative man, and the implications for Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani." Maher replied: "I don't think there are any implications at all. I know the right wing likes to think that everything is about us, but it's not. It was the French election, with French issues and French candidates." Indeed, Royal's socialist platform included preserving the French 35-hour work week and combating unemployment by creating 500,000 new government-subsidized jobs for young graduates.
Later, Blitzer asked Situation Room commentator Jack Cafferty: "Should he be heartened -- Giuliani -- that a conservative male beat a liberal female in France?" Cafferty replied, "I don't know that that translates here. I think there's a whole lot of issues in this country that are going to dictate what drives the next election. I don't know that France has anything to do with it." Blitzer then stated that he agreed with Cafferty.
Blitzer and Costello's comments echoed a May 8 Washington Post article by reporters Anne E. Kornblut and Perry Bacon Jr., which asserted: "[T]he Royal campaign seemed likely to provide fodder, if not exact parallels, for analysts wondering about the role that identity politics will play in the 2008 campaign in the United States, when a woman and an African American are battling each other at the top of the Democratic field." On his Drudge Report website, Internet gossip Matt Drudge linked to the article under the headline: "Hillary campaign: Senator is no Ségolène." The link was accompanied by large, side-by-side photos of Clinton and Royal making similar gestures while campaigning.
From the 5 pm ET hour of the May 8 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: We'll get to Bill Maher in a moment. But first, some interesting correlations being made today about the French presidential election and the U.S. election coming up next year. Carol Costello once again joining us from New York. What's this all about, Carol?
COSTELLO: Well, Wolf, it's about riding on a winner's coattails and using that other guy's win to deflect criticism from yourself.
[begin video clip]
COSTELLO: Who knew a French politician could so inspire an American candidate for president? But there was Rudy Giuliani reveling in a tabloid comparison to Nicholas Sarkozy.
GIULIANI: I was particularly interested in this column in the -- in the New York Post. See it? "A French Rudy." See this? I thought it was a good omen.
COSTELLO: Bet you didn't know Rudy Giuliani was following the French race for president so closely. But he was.
GIULIANI: I kept my support for him very quiet.
COSTELLO: And when a law-and-order, plain-talking conservative candidate wins, French or not, some say Giuliani could not resist.
CHRIS SMITH, (New York magazine): I mean, A, he's eager to talk about anything other than abortion, associating himself with a winner. Everybody loves a winner.
COSTELLO: But can what happened in the French election mimic our own race for president? There are similarities. A conservative, strong-on-security kind of guy running against a liberal woman. Sound familiar? And if you're a competitive conservative candidate, could you resist pointing out that the liberal woman lost?
CLINTON: Hi, everybody.
COSTELLO: And some politicos say the joke may be on the Democrats, pointing out the new French president had been expected to lose.
DAVID GERGEN (former presidential adviser): But when it came down to the one-on-one, people took -- took a look at the two -- two candidates and said, you know, we sort of like the conservative better. And he won a handy election. So that was -- that's quite interesting. I would think that would give some pause to the Democrats.
COSTELLO: But the Clinton camp doesn't appear to be worried, telling us other than the fact that they're both women, they don't have much in common. Still, Royal's failed campaign is sure to provide fodder for those who want American voters to mirror the French.
[end video clip]
COSTELLO: In fact, the French candidate, Miss Royal, wanted to visit Senator Clinton during her run for president as a symbolic gesture -- you know, two women running for president. But Clinton declined to meet Royal because her views were at odds with Senator Clinton's -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Carol Costello in New York for us. Thank you, Carol. Let's turn to a veteran of the late night TV talk show circuit for his take on the presidential campaign and everything else. Joining us now, Bill Maher, the host of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher. Bill thanks for coming in.
MAHER: Hey, Wolf. How you doing?
BLITZER: I should say HBO, a sister network of ours. What do you think of this comparison, the election in France, where you had a liberal woman running against a conservative man, and the implications for Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani?
MAHER: Well, I don't think there are any implications at all. I know the right wing likes to think that everything is about us, but it's not. It was the French election, with French issues and French candidates. Not everything is about America. And if he is a French Rudy, I hope he's a more effective French Rudy than the Rudy we have.
[...]
BLITZER: Should he be heartened -- Giuliani -- that a conservative male beat a liberal female in France?
CAFFERTY: I don't know that that translates here. I think there's a whole lot of issues in this country that are going to dictate what drives the next election. I don't know that France has anything to do with it.
BLITZER: I think you're right, Jack. Thanks very much.
CAFFERTY: I don't know that that translates here. I think there's a whole lot of issues in this country that are going to dictate what drives the next election. I don't know that France has anything to do with it.
BLITZER: I think you're right, Jack. Thanks very much.
Must... resist... aaaahh!
WHY IS THIS HERE?
Aah! Wasn't me. Someone else grabbed the keyboard. Damn!
Heh. I do find it humorous those guys spent so much time postulating about parallels, then dismissed the entire thing in a few sentences. Was this really news analysis or Vaudeville? At the very least, MMFA could have saved some time and space by cutting right to the conclusion...would have probably read funnier too.
Tommy - "why is this here?" argument in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3
Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
WHY IS THIS HERE, is the rational response.
They're all bloviating, it's all opinion, presented as such, so where's the misinformation?
That Hillary is a liberal and can be compared to socialists. That's the misinformation.
No, our elections can never mirror the French elections. Anyone who has followed the race in La Republique Francais can see that the level of discourse there is much more intellectual, with the candidates actually debating the issues in civlized tones, commentators giving insightful analysis of the candidates, and real solutions to real problems being sought. Whereas in the U.S. we have: "I don't like his hair." "He's a real tough guy." and other such facetious characterizations of the candidates, ignoring or obfuscating any substance. Debates here are merely opportunities for the candidates to parrot what they believe to be the values of their core constituents, and no solutions are offered except, "Stay the course", "Impeachment is off the table." and other such mindless cliches repeated ad nauseaum to a citizenry dumbed down by the media to lower than the LCD.
America v FranceHow the two countries compare
PopulationUS: 301m. France: 61m
Life expectancyUS: male 75.15 years, female 80.97 years.France: male 77.35 years, female 84 years
Median ageUS: 36.6 years. France: 39 years
Working weekUS: approx 46 hours. France: usually 35 hours
Population living below the poverty line (for two adults and one child) US: 12%. France: 6.2%
Minimum wageUS: varies widely from state to state - no such thing in Alabama. France: €8.27
Usual retirement ageUS: 65-67. France: 60
Prison populationUS: 2 million plus. France: 50,500 plus
Number of murders a yearUS: 16,692. France: approx 1,000
Number of overweight citizensUS: a little more than two thirds. France: a little under one third
Public transportUS: bus, train and subway are all hit and miss. France: train, metro, bus and tram are all notoriously punctual
But what really makes us hate them is the fact that they were right about Iraq.
Very interesting set of statistics. Where did you find it (them)?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2075293,00.html
· Sources: CIA; National Sleep Foundation; French Embassy (London); BBC; US Census Bureau; Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques; United States Department of Labor; CNN; Ministère de la Justice; disastercenter.com; Nation Master; MSNBC; American Public Transport Association; Office Espagnol du Tourisme; US Department of State; New Scientist; MeteoFrance.com
<!--Article is not commented: 0 -->Cartoon... are you French?
Non! Je suis l'homme universel!
What? As someone who's followed the election race accross the Channel with some interest, I find this caricature of the French election laughable in the extreme. Is this the Segolene Royale who advocates sending juvenile offenders to boot-camps? Is this the Sarkozy who favours affirmative action and the building of mosques? Where do these news channels get their news?
Keep watching, they usually put in the persons sources. Do not expect to be impressed by many of these sources.
I've been thinking about the worlds veiw of us thru this, main stream media,(MSM). The images raise a bit of guilt in me, and a little horror. For what its worth, my appologies.
I spent a little time in Kent and London a few years ago. I can't think of any bad time in the short time I was there. Lovely place. A bit expensive. worth it, though there's cheaper ways to do it.
Oh yea, bring you mates.
frenchlesson
Fortunately, an old friend has been bombing me with emails from Human Events, so I got the bizarre spin on this in Newt Gingrich's french lesson for Republicans.
If you haven't got the stomach to read it, here's the nut;
"here's where American Republicans really need to pay attention: In France, voting for change meant voting for the party in office, but not the personality in office. And voting to keep the old order meant voting for the opposition, not for the incumbent party."
In other words; "Think the last 8 years of us sucked? Better vote for us again, or you'll get more of the same!"
WTF????
Glad to have you aboard, Merrie! We could use a British perspective here.
Cheers!
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
Is that Gergen wrapping himself in the virtues of French Politics?? I love the RNC's obvious desparation, they would bath in the excrement of Sarkozy if they thought it would keep them in power!
This is when we start hearing the haughting sound of Patsy Cline singing "Dreaming."
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
Answer? No.
Thanks Snoop. Your concise rebuttal (brevity is the soul of wit) brought to my attention the semantic absurdity of the question, "[C]an what happened in the French election mimic our own race for president?"
What happened in the French election cannot possibly 'mimic' our own race for president, as the U.S. election has yet to happen, and the French election just did! Unless these folks have suddenly invented a time machine, probability drive, or the like, the correct question (although still absurd, for the reasons posted above) would be "Can our elections mimic what just happened in France?"
Of course, that would imply that America is susceptible to foreign influence (quelle horreur!)
Well said, Bill.
I think the comparison is compelling: France has suffered from socialist policies at least as long as we in the U.S. Socialism hasn’t worked there; it hasn’t worked in Germany (thus, the victory of Merkel over Schroeder), and it hasn’t worked here. The French voters apparently think so too, as they sent the socialist candidate packing. Call it what you like, but what the Democrats in this country have been giving us ever since FDR is socialism and Hillary isn’t fooling that many people when she attempts to come across as a centrist.
In a post somewhere here on Media Matters I ran across a statement about Republicans or something close to right wingers in general being at the bottom of the “intellectual food chain”. Fine. I prefer politicians who are in tune with the high end of the common sense food chain. Apparently, the French felt the same way.
First of all grading on the curve a French conservative is a moderate dem being generous in the US. As for pretending democrats are socialists that just ludicrous. As for socialism not working I notice that even though most of Europe is fairly socialistic by our standards the Euro is kicking the dollars butt in world currency and the European Union is doing pretty well. Your post was a list of baseless assertions and outright delusions.
Shhhhh...don't dispel the myth that Democrats are socialists and not the far-right-wingers they actually are. It would destroy the worldviews of so many Republicans to find out that the Democrats are on their side!
French...mimic...mime...real fresh.
I know the right owned media doesn't care about facts, but if they bothered to look they would see that European conservatives are more liberal than the Dems in this country.
The problem with France and Germany lie mostly in their economies, but this is due mostly to the structuring of the European Union. The wealthier countries (i.e. France & Germany) have to subsidize the poorer or newer member states. This is why Spain's economy has been growing fast (until this year, it received subsidies from the Euro Union), and is why Poland's economy is expected to grow now. France and Germany are stagnating so that the European Union can level out the playing field for all member states. Germany has also had to absorb a former Communist state (GDR).
Anyone who thinks socialism is the problem has never lived in Europe. And these aren't even socialist economies: they are capitalist economies with a strong welfare state. I could provide a list of French and German, multinational corporations as long as your arm, many of which provide the pharmaceuticals that Americans ingest daily, and the cell phones they use.
SOLON, CARTOON MESSIAH, Good points. It seems to me pretty clear what socialism is both in France and in the U.S., and the welfare state is part of socialism.
Please ler me know why YOU think Sarkozy beat Royal. Thanks.
The U.S. is very soundly rooted in capitalism, I don't know why you make this socialism comparison.
At any rate, if you do not believe that the commonwealth protects and empowers our ability to prosper, I suggest you do as Thoreau did and go off the grid, got to the woods, go it alone because that is the alternative conservatives offer.
Do it yourself without roads, the internet or police protection and see how well you do in the market. Take your tax cut and see how much of an infrastructure you create with it. Dang. You conservatives always want the benefits of living in a prosperous society without having to give back any of the rewards afforded you by living in that community.
That is absolutely immoral.
I mean do you really desire an economy that has no contract enforcement laws? No banking security? No protection for workers from hazardous work environments? No consumer protections? No child labor laws?
The reason people form governments is for protection from threats too large for the individual overcome.
Most likely for the same reason many candidates win in the US the people liked him better than the other candidates.
A black day has fallen upon us, for world socialism has been dealt the kind of punch that Mike Tyson reserves for the most intimate of partners. A mob of renegade voters in France misread their ballots and inadvertently allowed a right wing voice to creep in under the radar, and now the greatest ally possessed by the American Left has been muted. There is cautious hope that a recount will be instigated, and perhaps Jimmy Carter’s hammer and sickle sweater will be back from the dry cleaners in time for him to oversee the new election. Unfortunately, the defeated party appears to be giving up with only a modest display of rioting, looting, and physical assaults, but there is still hope that widespread destruction flares up. Al Sharpton has agreed to catch a Concorde out of LaGuardia in hopes of fanning the flames until the election can be overturned, though he admits that without a racial victim to exploit his chances are pretty weak.
With the defeat of our socialist brothers, sisters, and pre-op in betweens, the conservatives have been given restored hope of possibly defeating our run to world domination. France, the epitome of leftist utopian thinking, has been a shining light in their embrace of the concept of total surrender to Islamic terrorists, massive interference in business by the government, disdain for anything American, and their tendency to eschew even the most basic of hygiene products. The French have been model citizens for those of us on the American left, and it is heartbreaking to see them defeated with no real chance of disputing the election results.
With any luck, the world will see that global warming affected the climate at the polling centers, and the voters inadvertently selected the wrong name as a result of their heat induced disorientation. Likewise, some of the electorate stated that they voted for the candidate on the right because they feared GW Bush would invade France if they elected their preferred socialist choice. Still others report that they were kept away from the polls by Florida cops that were in the country training for the 2008 American presidential elections. Based on the anecdotal evidence, it is clear that the French people were prohibited from electing the candidate that they really wanted. And as usual, it was the fault of Bush, global warming, and police intimidation at the polls.
LOYAL DEMOCRAT
"It was the French election, with French issues and French candidates."
That may be the most intelligent assessment of this issue that I've seen. It's reflective of the putrid state of American "journalism" that this comment came from a comedian.
ICEDOG, Hear! Hear! Excellent piece: a jewel of sarcasm.
Old Marine,
Thank you, but the credit is not mine to take...visit http://loyaldemocrat.townhall.com/
You'll love it...I promise
Sounds like Rush Limbaugh wrote it.
Yup. Could have been: "Illustrating absurdity with absurdity"?
Actually, dripping with Right Wing stereotypes is what I had in mind.
...Back to the question: If the French voters were not reacting to socialism gone wild (anarchy and a bloated welfare state), then, folks, tell us your theory.
No one should really be surprised over the conservative movement in Europe. Much like the college teenager who eventually gives up their utopian fantasies when they leave college and get to experience the real world...the Europeans have finally realized that liberalism kills their economy, kills their culture, kills their traditions, and can even kill their citizens. Welcome to reality Europe...we look forward to an unheralded era of cooperation (fingers crossed).
Really? What, specifically, has "liberalism" killed, and how? Or is this just more Right Wing rhetorical hysteria, sort of like gay marriage "threatening" traditional marriage?
Oh yeah whatever. give me 50 hour work weeks w/no raise in 2 years because "the company doesn't have the money" while our CEO made 16 mil last year and the President of our company made 19 mil, neither including use of the corporate jet and golf country club dues. Give me a consumer driven society filled with fat slobs driving gas guzzling cars and sending all that oil money to the Mideast, while they spew vitriolic hatred towards Muslims--and they are to f---ing stupid to get the connection. Give me a country run by multi national corporations who use a complete and utter stupid dumb a-hole as the President. Give me a country awash in firearms, legal and illegal, and the consequent deaths. Give me a country where polictical discourse is at the level of a 4th grader, if that. Give me a country where I have to work 5 years to get 2 weeks of vacation, if I'm lucky. Give me a country that makes me work until I'm 67, not 60. Give me a country where the poor get poorer, the middle class get poorer, the multi nationals ship our jobs to 3rd world countries so that their shareholders get rich, and another 10 families lose their health insurance. Give me a country where my government is free to read my e-mail, my regular mail, run my life, and put me at risk if I want to travel overseas because of their pig headed world view. Give me a country where the vast majority of citizens are so clueless about the rest of the world it's pathetic. Socialism is bad? We should be so lucky.
Isthisagreatcountryorwhat, ... and your alternative would be...?
You guys are baying at the moon. If Sarkozy were in the US he would be too liberal to be a Republican. Do you think for one second the French are going to demand they give up socialized medicine? A 35 hr work week and 6 week vacations mandated by law? The government pensions? Dont you remember the mass demonstrations when they tried to change the law to make it easier to fire a French worker? Icedog you are flat delusional. The French workers are among the most productive in the world.
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:UnrBUjdjSRkJ:www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/icp0207.pdf+world+worker+productivity+ranking+OECD&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=32&gl=us