Round 1...

Today is voting day here in France, for the first round of presidential elections!

As I mentioned in a previous post about the French elections, voters have about 12 candidates to choose from in the 1st round, and the two candidates who receive the most votes head into the second round of voting, which takes place about 2 weeks later.

Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the polls right now, with Ségolène Royal a close second and François Bayrou in third place. The general consensus now is that the second round will most likely consist of Sarko vs. Ségo, but one can't exclude those wildcards, François Bayrou and Jean-Marie Le Pen. The thing about 79-year old Le Pen is that he appeals to French equivalent of the Bible Belt voters, who are afraid to admit in the polls that they vote for him, for fear of being branded racist (but the thing is, he always gets a surprisingly large amount of votes).

Being that I am not French, I won't be able to vote in the elections, but I do agree with the general consensus that none of the candidates are very appealing. However, I think that my vote would go to the Centrist candidate François Bayrou despite his lack of charm, charisma, and appeal. He may be boring and uninspiring, but I honestly think he is the best choice, given the other candidates.

Quick rundown of candidates (with a short commentary):

Nicolas Sarkozy (Center right UMP party): Wildly ambitious, and one of the best speakers ever. However, ass-kissing and desperation are never a turn-on. Plus, he looks like an evil dwarf.

Ségolène Royal (Socialist party): She really embarrassed herself what with all those mistakes she made when she went on her foreign tour. She's pretty, but she's really not that smart.

François Bayrou (Centrist UDF party): Boring! But at least he's not overly desperate like Sarkozy, and contrary to Ségolène, he seems to be a relatively intelligent person.

Jean-Marie Le Pen (Extreme right FN party): You ever notice that people who are racist always say they're not racist? People who support Le Pen are always saying stuff like "I'm not racist or anti-Arab, because I like to eat couscous!"

Olivier Besancenot (Revolutionary Communist League): The name of his political party says it all.

Marie-George Buffet (Communist Party): See above.

Gérard Schivardi (Worker's Party): See above.

Arlette Laguillier (Trotskyist "Worker's Struggle" Party): I suspect that she is the mastermind behind all those worker strikes in France. Nothing would ever get done if she gets elected, because everyone will be striking all the time.

José Bové (Leftist anti-globalist): His entire platform is based on the whole anti-genetically moderated food issue. Plus, he was in jail and everything. He seems intelligent despite that farmer look he's got going on, but he really needs to talk about subjects other than modified corn and how McDonald's sucks.

Frédéric Nihous (Hunting & Fishing Party, or something like that): He spends a lot of time talking about hunting and other outdoor sports. Not really sure what his platform is about, but suspect is has something to do with more rights for hunters and nature-lovers.

Dominique Voynet (Green Party): Entire campaign based on global warming and recycling. I guess it's a bit more credible than the 2 previous candidates above, but still, there are much more serious problems to address.

Philippe de Villiers (Movement for France party): Extremely pro-Catholic and anti-Islam. Kind of like Le Pen, except he's titled, and he's in his 50's, so contrary to Le Pen, he probably won't croak soon. However, I'm a little creeped out by that scandal from last year, where his eldest son was indicted for raping the youngest son. Ewwwww.