french elections:
The pro-Sarko electorate is not the new, dynamic freedom-loving France. That France voted mostly for Ségolène Royal. The Sarko France is aging and scared. Among voters aged 18 to 24, 34 per cent voted for the Socialist woman candidate. Twenty percent voted for centrist François Bayrou and only 19 per cent voted for Sarkozy (who is not, as English-language reports persist in calling him, a "Gaullist" ; "Bushist" would be more accurate. Sarkozy's largest block of voters were retired people. He won 44 per cent of the electorate over 65.
(...) Asked which issue was paramount in their choice, 46 per cent of Ségolène's voters express their concern for "social inequalities", and 66 per cent want to live in a society "with more personal freedom". Sarko voters are indifferent to those themes, but give first place to "the fight against insecurity"; 88 per cent demand a society "with more order and authority". And 26 per cent of Sarkozy voters favor "the struggle against immigration", compared to only 5 per cent of Royal voters.
(...)But Ségolène led Sarkozy among intermediary professions and white collar workers, as well as blue collar workers--but in the last category, Le Pen came in first with 26 per cent -- by far his highest score in any category (Le Pen got 10.5 per cent of the national vote).