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Sarkozy win comes from unlikely corners
2007-05-07
Nicolas Sarkozy won the women's vote and fared well among blue-collar workers, even though his rival for the French presidency was a woman and a Socialist. It was one of the surprising subplots in Sarkozy's resounding election victory over Segolene Royal -- and shows his vision of pro-market reforms and scaling back immigration appeals to a wide audience. Sarkozy's ability to attract votes from a broad spectrum of the public is an early indication he may be able to overcome his image as a polarizing force and achieve crucial popular support for pushing through his ambitious program of overhauling France's welfare system. Official figures showed Sarkozy won France's one-time industrial heartland in the north, which French media said had not voted for a rightist presidential candidate since Charles de Gaulle in 1965. Sarkozy even tallied nearly 44 percent of the vote in the Seine-Saint-Denis region north of Paris, where a wave of rioting erupted in late 2005 while he was interior minister and infuriated many there by calling troublemakers "scum." Right after his victory, angry youths burned cars and clashed with police in several cities. Police reported Monday that 730 cars were burned and at least 592 people detained overnight across the country, while some 78 officers were injured. On Monday night, several hundred people massed for a second night at the Place de la Bastille in Paris, breaking windows in shops and starting street fires. Riot police dispersed them. Experts said Sarkozy was able to steal working-class votes from the left by playing up his tough cop image and by pounding away at the theme that he believes in rewarding hard work. "The main attraction among workers were the security-immigration duo, which works, and the values of hard work: He put the emphasis on increasing purchasing power," said Frederic Dabi, a pollster with Ifop. Perhaps most striking was the 52 percent of the women's vote he captured against 48 percent for Royal, which indicated the campaign transcended gender issues and became truly a choice between ideas -- the tough-love message of Sarkozy against Royal's more nurturing vision. "Royal didn't gain any advantage with her argument that she was a mother of four. It had no effect," said Pierre Giacometti, director of the Ipsos agency. "Neither feminism nor machismo had its place." In the campaign, Sarkozy dared to attack the status quo with calls to do away with inheritance tax on small and medium estates and cut the number of public sector workers. He also evoked issues of national identity and immigration that were once the stomping ground of extreme-right nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen. While Sarkozy found a formula to win an election, he faces a much steeper challenge implementing his vision of tax cuts and freer markets that promise to cut into the social protections many French hold so dear. He is certain to face resistance from unions to his plans to make the French work more and make it easier for companies to hire and fire. The election left little time for celebrating: Legislative elections are slated for June 10 and 17, and Sarkozy's conservative UMP party needs a majority to keep his mandate for reforms. A win by the left would bring "cohabitation" -- an awkward power-sharing with a leftist prime minister -- which would put a stop to his plans. Sarkozy has drawn up a whirlwind agenda for his first 100 days in office and plans to put big reforms before parliament in July. One would make overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more. Another would put in place tougher sentencing for repeat offenders, and a third would toughen the criteria for immigrants trying to bring their families to France. Congratulations poured in from around the world Monday, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair sending one -- in French -- via YouTube. The president-elect, meanwhile, left a Paris hotel wearing jeans Monday and headed off to reflect on his new job on a yacht off the coast of Malta, a Mediterranean archipelago. President Bush also welcomed Sarkozy's victory, and there was much talk in Washington about the likelihood for better relations with a France led by the U.S.-friendly conservative. "We certainly look forward to cooperation with the French," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "We know that there are going to be areas of disagreement. But on the other hand, there are certainly real opportunities to work together on a broad range of issues." Sarkozy is as critical of Iran's nuclear program as is the U.S., and he has chided the French press for its anti-American tone. But he will not be in lockstep with Washington: He has called the Iraq invasion a mistake and says the Bush administration should do more on global warming According to the Ipsos poll, Sarkozy cruised in his traditional electoral base: 82 percent of small business owners, and 67 percent of farmers voted for him. Befitting a conservative, he won 61 percent of votes by those over age 61, and 68 percent among voters 70 or older. Royal's best showing was among 18- to 24-year-olds, but Sarkozy tallied 57 percent among the 25- to 34-year-old tranche. The Ipsos poll of 3,609 adults was conducted by telephone Sunday. The agency did not provide a margin of error, but it would be about plus or minus 1.6 percentage point for a survey of that size.
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