(HOST) France elected Nicholas Sarkozy as its new president last Sunday. As commentator Barrie Dunsmore tells us this morning, there is at least one lesson in that election for Americans.
(DUNSMORE) France and the United States have nearly always had a love-hate relationship. France came to America’s assistance during the Revolution. United States soldiers went to rescue France in two World Wars.
When I lived in Paris in the 1960’s then President Charles de Gaulle was busy kicking NATO and its American Supreme Allied Commander out of France -while the hottest new place on the famed Champs Elysees was a place called – Le Drugstore. MacDonald’s and Disneyland would come later. Whatever the politics of the day, there is no question the French have always been fond of many aspects of American culture such as the Wild West, Jerry Lewis and Jazz.
In contrast, in this country those who appreciate the French and their culture are often portrayed, as John Kerry was during the 2004 president campaign, as effete or even less than masculine. That could hardly describe Thomas Jefferson in his days in France – or Ernest Hemingway in his.
Recently, the most ludicrous example of anti French feeling was the decision to begin calling “french fries” in the Congressional dining rooms “freedom fries”. This was in retaliation for France’s opposition to the invasion of Iraq. I thought it was a wonderful irony that a few weeks ago that decision was reversed and the congressman behind it has decided invading Iraq was not such a good idea after all.
Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s new president, is said to be more pro-American than his predecessor, Jacques Chirac. In his election night speech, Sarkozy said he wanted to tell his American friends, quote “that France will always be by their side when they need her, but that friendship is also accepting the fact that friends can think differently.” And it can be expected that while the atmospherics may be better under Sarkozy, certain realities haven’t changed. Their very bloody colonial experiences in Algeria and Vietnam continue to shape French foreign policy.
So with the imminent departure of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sarkozy may or may not become President Bush’s new best friend in Europe. But there was another aspect of the French election that is very much worth noting.
Last Sunday, nearly eighty-five percent of registered French voters cast their ballots. And just two weeks before that almost as many people turned out for the run-off elections. Those figures are more than twenty percent higher than in any modern American presidential election. Voting on Sundays certainly helps and it continues to amaze me why this change could not be made here.
At the same time, the 2008 American presidential election campaign is going to last for two years and will involve candidates having to raise more than a billion dollars, much of it from powerful special interest groups like the pharmaceutical and petroleum industries.
Low voter turn-out and billion dollar elections are not positive signs of a healthy democracy.
Barrie Dunsmore is a veteran diplomatic and foreign correspondent for ABC News, now living in Charlotte.