It was a very difficult choice between the leading candidates:
Nicolas Sarkozy
Advantages:
(+) The capacity to adopt some of the necessary economical and social reforms despite the pressure of populism
(+) An enormous capacity of work and a strong motivation
Drawbacks:
(-) he goes for an absolute justice based on Good and Evil rather than for an harmony in which each indivudual finds his role...
(-) he refuses to adopt a rational attitude to
solve problems; instead, he reacts to problems by
punishing what he deems to be evil
(-) his personality is way too much focused on action; although it is good to be active, some thinking is also necessary
(-) he sees everything as a battle, sometimes as a total war, rather than a negociation
(-) He has no vision for the EU
(-) His program costs way too much
==> My conclusion is that he could be the "Margaret Thatcher" of France; however, I believe that some traits of his personality will produce many unreasonable decisions with counter-productive effects.
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Ségolène Royal
Advantages:
(+) She has proved to be able of thinking independantly and innovatively
(+) She shifted the gravitational center of the socialist party away from the far left
(+) She has a true credibility regarding environmental issues
(+) She is a woman (yeah it counts a little bit)
Drawbacks:
(-) Her arrogance makes me think that she will be unable to manage a team which includes people who contradict her
(-) She hasn't proved to be very serious during the campaign
(-) She has no vision for the EU
(-) Her program costs even more than Sarkozy's
==> My conclusion is that she could do an acceptable job. However, I don't think she would do a good job economically. My fears of her incapacity to correctly lead a team made me dismiss her.
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François Bayrou
Advantages:
(+) He showed a strong opposition towards "official history" and "anti-free speech" laws or political positions (Armenian genocide, Charlie Hebdo affair)
(+) He has a project for the European Union (pro-EU)
(+) He is willing to go for negociation and harmony: more negociations, less unproductive battles between the left and the right, the policemen and the teenagers, the employees and the managers. These values are supported by concrete propositions.
(+) His program costs a lot less than those of his political adversaries
Drawbacks:
(-) He lacks "prestance" (authority/elegance)
(-) His political basis is very thin, which mean his program will be difficult to implement
==> My conclusion is that he is the best regarding ideas. However I'm concerned about his ability to put these ideas into practice given that he will be forced to make an alliance with at least one other party.
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Jean-Marie Le Pen
Advantages:
(+) He is old, he is likely to die soon
Drawbacks:
(-) He hates everything, and especially foreigners
(-) He would cause a total economical and social collapse of the country in a matter of weeks
==> My conclusion is that it actually wasn't very difficult to dismiss that one.
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As you can probably tell from these descriptions, I voted François Bayrou, mostly because his ideas suit mines and because he has a real society project - something more than a list of propositions emerge from his discourse... but I'm still seriously concerned that it will be very difficult to put this project into effect.
I'm anxious about the results, which will be revealed in 5 hours from now.