{"id":1880,"date":"2016-12-03T16:34:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T21:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bowdoinglobalist.com\/?p=1880"},"modified":"2016-12-03T16:34:25","modified_gmt":"2016-12-03T21:34:25","slug":"france-america-and-the-politics-of-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/europe\/france-america-and-the-politics-of-character\/","title":{"rendered":"France, America, and the Politics of Character"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just after the third presidential debate, I called my grandfather, curious about his reaction to President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s victory. As I typed Paris\u2019s area code into my phone, my grandfather\u2019s voice echoed in my head. I pictured the ultra-conservative 72-year-old yelling \u201ccrooked Hillary!\u201d in his thick French accent as though he coined the saying. I heard him praising Trump for heroically defeating Clinton in the last presidential debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

But when my grandfather finally picked up the line, I was greeted by a voice eerily similar to those of the Bowdoin students with whom I watched the debate. My grandfather chastised Trump for failing to put forth a comprehensive plan for dealing with the Middle East, criticized the nebulous state of his tax returns, and most passionately, condemned Trump\u2019s rude, flashy, erratic rhetoric.<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to understand this peculiar shift in my grandfather\u2019s point of view, it is critical to first understand the French party system. The system is made up of three parties: the socialist party, the center-right party (\u201cLes Republicains\u201d), and the hyper-conservative party, the National Front.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the French socialist party has been quick to denounce Trump. Francois Hollande, the French president and one of the more vocal members of the French socialist party, <\/span>warned<\/span><\/a>, \u201cIf the Americans choose Trump, it will have consequences because the American election is a global election.\u201d He later elaborated on his distaste for Trump, <\/span>stating<\/span><\/a> that Trump\u2019s wealth made him want to \u201cretch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As one might expect, the National Front has endorsed Trump. Marine Le Pen, the nominee for the National Front party in the upcoming election, has been one of the more outspoken supporters of Trump. Earlier this year, she <\/span>mused<\/span><\/a> that he \u201cappeals to Americans because he is a free man, not beholden to Wall Street, markets or financial lobbies, or even his own party.\u201d Furthermore, on immigration, she emphasized, \u201cWhatever the European Union might say, it is essential that France recover its borders, once and for all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alain Jupp\u00e9, a former French prime minister and a nominee for France\u2019s center-right party, has openly denounced Trump on multiple occasions. In a preliminary press conference for the French election, he <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a>, \u201cHis total ignorance for Europe, his disdain for France, his isolationist and protectionist points of view, his outrageous simplifications, his constant changes of tack, are a real concern.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Some may discount Jupp\u00e9, assuming that he is a trivial character in French politics. But according to an <\/span>Odoxa poll<\/span><\/a>, he is predicted to edge Sarkozy out of the nomination for the French Republican Party by seventeen points. Jupp\u00e9\u2019s denunciation of Trump could be likened to a scenario in which Paul Ryan, instead of simply <\/span>stating<\/span><\/a> that he was \u201cgoing to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities\u201d directly barraged Trump\u2019s unsubstantiated arguments and lack of experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even so, Jupp\u00e9\u2019s denunciation of Trump could be explained by a political motive, rather than a larger trend in French political standpoints. For instance, Jupp\u00e9 is running against Sarkozy, one of the traditionally flashier candidates who at times has much in common with Trump. Thus, some have <\/span>speculated<\/span><\/a> that Jupp\u00e9 speaks out against Trump in order to distance himself from Sarkozy, instead of showing his strong distaste for the American president-elect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of Jupp\u00e9\u2019s potential ulterior motive, it is important to analyze the French population\u2019s view of Trump. In a recent poll conducted by <\/span>L\u2019Europe 1<\/span><\/a>, the French people looked upon former President George W. Bush\u2019s invasion of Iraq and Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine more favorably than they do Trump. Furthermore, only eleven percent of the French population holds a positive opinion of Trump, compared to the forty-seven percent of Americans that voted for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Considering Le Pen provides insight into the basis of this difference. As stated earlier, she shares with Trump essentially the same views on immigration, the Middle East, and economic models. A <\/span>YouGov survey<\/span><\/a> reported that the French population finds her more similar to Trump than the other French candidates. But instead of rejecting Le Pen as they did Trump, the French people have rallied around Le Pen. According to a survey published by <\/span>Le Monde<\/span><\/a>, Le Pen had a decisive seven-point lead in the overall election. A recent <\/span>Assembl\u00e9e Nationale<\/span><\/a> poll explained this phenomenon, indicating that the most common reason for the French people\u2019s distaste for Trump is that he is a \u201c<\/span>fou furieux<\/span><\/i>.\u201d In other words, the French don\u2019t like Trump because he is \u201caggressive and crazy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This reason for discrediting Trump is exemplified in the Sarkozy\u2013Jupp\u00e9 race for the moderate-conservative nomination in which Sarkozy resembles Trump and Jupp\u00e9 mirrors Le Pen. Like Trump and Le Pen, on an ideological basis, Sarkozy and Jupp\u00e9 are very similar. Jupp\u00e9 <\/span>supports<\/span><\/a> raising the retirement age from sixty-two to sixty-five, and raising the workweek from thirty-five to thirty-nine hours. Although Sarkozy has focussed his campaign on terrorism and <\/span>forcing Muslims to eat pork<\/span><\/a>, he too supports Juppe\u2019s core plans of expanding France\u2019s productivity. <\/span><\/p>\n

But they differ in character. Sarkozy had always been the flashier of the two candidates, known as the \u201cbling-bling\u201d president. Furthermore, Sarkozy shares Trump\u2019s fixation with beautiful women, as evidenced by the <\/span>L\u2019Oreal scandal<\/span><\/a>. Dissimilarly, Jupp\u00e9 has been described as the \u201canti-Trump\u201d by <\/span>Politico<\/span><\/a>. He\u2019s seen as old, distant ,and even robotic. In a <\/span>recent poll<\/span><\/a>, Sarkozy won only thirty-seven percent of the vote, compared to Jupp\u00e9\u2019s sixty-three. France\u2019s support for Le Pen over Trump and Jupp\u00e9 over Sarkozy shows the French people\u2019s investment in the character of their elected official.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether or not America should emulate France\u2019s care for personality is debatable. On one level, this sentiment would reduce the likelihood of electing a racist, sexist, egomaniac like Trump. But France\u2019s example does present the risk of fixation on candidate personalities rather than on political stances. For example, <\/span>Scientific American<\/span><\/i> conducted a study<\/span><\/a> determining that the French parliamentary election of 2007 was decided largely based on which candidate was \u201cdeemed more competent looking.\u201d It came to these conclusions by asking Swiss children to choose the candidates solely based on various pictures of them taken throughout the campaign. Remarkably, the Swiss children chose the correct candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, this election, that may as well have been chosen by school children, gave France Francois Hollande. Today, only twelve percent of France, according to a TNS Sofres survey, believes Hollande is successfully leading the country. This is the lowest approval rating for a French president in the past 30 years. The majority of the criticism raised against Hollande is for his inconsistency, most commonly with regards to mending the French economy. Although Francois Fillon, Hollande\u2019s most plausible alternative, would not necessarily have been more decisive, Hollande had previously shown signs of this negative trait. One of the greatest examples came during the debates against Sarkozy. Throughout his political career, Hollande was known as \u201cMonsieur Flanby,\u201d a French pudding, for both his wavering political ideals and soft nature. But in the debates, Hollande abruptly moved toward a more aggressive style. After Sarkozy complained about being called names, Hollande <\/span>retorted<\/span><\/a>, \u201cYou will have trouble passing off as a victim.\u201d Although such a line may seem trivial, it ran contrary to Hollande\u2019s political style, and thus should have risen red flags about Hollande.<\/span><\/p>\n

The French\u2013American divide over Trump harkens to France\u2019s conscious and subconscious valuation of character. This bias, with regard to people like Hollande, has hurt France in the past. But with figures like Trump, when candidates\u2019 personalities say much about their political views, it is clear that character has a place in politics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, in pondering the French\u2013American divide, perhaps the solution lies somewhere between character and politics. Candidates like Trump and Hollande could be better addressed by the question \u201cDo the candidates\u2019 tastes and personalities reflect unspoken aspects of their political ideologies?\u201d instead of the prevailing question, which seems to be, \u201cShould I vote based on the candidates\u2019 politics or personalities?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just after the third presidential debate, I called my grandfather, curious about his reaction to President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s victory. As I typed Paris\u2019s area code into my phone, my grandfather\u2019s voice echoed in my head. I pictured the ultra-conservative 72-year-old yelling \u201ccrooked Hillary!\u201d in his thick French accent as though he coined the saying. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":569,"featured_media":1888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[146],"class_list":{"0":"post-1880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-europe","8":"tag-france","9":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/569"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}