J - 3

[chani]

First off, a very happy birthday to scarlett2u! I may cook a chocolate cake later...I wish I could share it with you.

Also this morning I cooked a chicken curry.

I should be marking but I can't. I'm too stressed to do anything work-wise so I'm going to the hairdresser. I need a haircut anyway !

I leave you with 3 other candidates so you can ponder the poster while I'm getting my hair done.

Marie-George Buffet is one of the 4 women we have as candidates for the election.

She has been ruling the PCF (French Communist Party) in France for  a few years. Nowadays the PCF is no longer considered far-left but part of the "regular" left (we have three Trotskyist parties at the far-left). Buffet has been Minister of Youth Affairs and The Sports in 1997-2002. Here is the first page of her letter:

Arlette Laguillier has been the "face" of LO (Lutte Ouvrière) for several decades. LO is another Trotskyist movment (can you tell how complex French politics is!). She is running for President for the 6th and final time. She's our national Rocky! She was already candidate in 1974 and has always been there since then.

For some reason, many French people have a soft spot for Arlette while disliking LO.

He's probably the best known overseas. Le Pen is the founder of Front National and made France shake in 2002 when he got to the secopnd round, but he has been on the politcal field for a long time. He's the oldest candidate of this election (79 years old!).

I had to scan twice because he used the A3 size for his poster (the first and the last page of his letter), he is the only one who did this...

Comments

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Thanks for playing!

You have a point about the teeth. It's quite modern actually. In the old-school politics they didn't show their teeth. It was improper then. That changed in the 70's. Mitterrand even had his teeth filed off because he had big fangs and looked a bit too much like a vampire!

So in a way the old Le Pen is more daring than the others. BTW only four candidates out of 12 show their teeth in the flyers.


I agree about Buffet, the amount of text is significant. She doesn't want to play the show-side of politics and still thinks that ideas are the most important. Dignité being her buzzword fits in a communist speech.

Also the beginning of the message looks like a true letter with "Françaises, Français". The red background makes sense of course. Did you notice the Internet address at the bottom: mariegeorge2007.org ? The first name only! She's a comrade so she must be close to the people. It's typically communist!

Also the message is quite feminist and you're right by pointing out her mentioning the other candidates by name even. Of course, she doesn't mention that other woman candidate who gets so much press in the rest of Europe.

The three candidates she mentions are right-wing. I think there are two reaosns for which she doesn't mention Royal. Ignoring that other candidate is a way to appear as the only candidate representing the true left but at the same time it's also a way to save a recommendation in favour of Royal for after the second round.

What a contrast with Arlette's poster, innit? It's all about her !

As for coming off as no frills, it's typical of LO. LO is a weird organization, often compared to a sect, and there have been rumours about women not being allowed to wear make-up...


Concerning Le Pen, who declared today that Sarkozy shouldn't be president because (dixit) only one of his grandparents was French, actually the fold between the pages (that comes out as a cut here)is below his wedding band. He has been married twice and still is with his second wife I believe.

I agree the fuzzy background is scary (silent masses and flags!). Once upon a time he used to sell nazis singing.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's kind of why I thought she didn't mention Royal, because she's a woman and because she is actually the competition. BTW, I don't get Royal at all - what I've read about her in the German press is rather conflicting and I'd like to hear your analysis.
I did see the website and wanted to mention that, but I forgot.

Ooops, so Le Pen's wedding band is a bit high up - to me it looked like loose skin.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I'll post on Nihous, Royal and Sarkozy tomorrow. Let's say that I am not a fan of Ségolène at all. I saw her as a female Mitterrand with a similar strategy, all the flaws he had (for a supposed socialist), but without the skills he showed during his long career.

Le Pen definitely has loose skin but in this case it was a wedding ring!