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

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Hey, I love these posts - they're really interesting. I wanted to comment earlier, but I've been out of commission thanks to very messed up shoulder muscles that caused a migraine.

So, Le Pen is the first of the candidates to show us his teeth - all the other candidates 'smiled' with their mouths closed, which I found slightly odd. I'd have to do some research to see whether German candidates show their teeth more often.

Marie-George comes across as serious about politics - lots of text, but also as a nice person. It's interesting that there isn't only one picture of her (with a red background no less), but also four smaller ones showing her in dialogue with ordinary people. They're fairly small, but the first one seems to be showing workers in blue overalls. It seems unusual for me that dignité is her buzzword, probably because you expect politicians to talk about prosperity more often. From what I can gather from the text, she also wants to be the one to unify the left against the right - 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.

Arlette's flyer is very old-fashioned, but I guess she wants to come off as no frills - her fight doesn't need a pretty picture. I can get why people like her, but the presentation alone makes it clear that she is definitely not part of the political mainstream.

As to the last one - the less said, the better. True populist style. Strangely enough - the cut between the pages is exactly where a wedding band would show. What is his marital status? Also, on a totally shallow note: I hate the glasses and I hate the not quite matching (?) tie and handkerchief in his breastpocket. The background actually scares me - is that the silent masses who agree with him?

[lijability.livejournal.com]

So far I haven't seen anyone I would vote for....

So your hair is as short as the two women candidates above? Neat!!

Le Pen's poster is enough to turn anyone off. It's less about France and more about him. He's got great teeth. Hate his glasses.... should be thin wire rims. He's got that hand outstretched and also showing off his plain gold wedding band of supposed stability. It doesn't look like that suit-coat fits him.... it's riding up on him.

Merci!

[scarlett2u.livejournal.com]

Merci beaucoup, Chani! Je voudrai du gateau chocolat, s'il vous plait.

*how's my French there?*

Hugs & thanks,

Scarlett