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BLOG Release: 6th May, 2007 (updated)

REACTION TO SARKOZY: FRENCH BOY & MIGRANTS
LIVE on the street - outside is jubilation for Sarkozy;
inside "a win for Bush" is French immigrants reaction.

PARIS, France, EU - 6th May, 22.35 CET, 4.35 EST -- The mood in the streets as Sarkozy car pulled up amid heavy police presence was jubilant, and buoyant. However, the mood amongst some French, and especially migrants I spoke with earlier today and in coming weeks, was strongly opposed.

A little boy holding the sign aloft on his parents shoulders, and crowds of boys running through the streets waving fold out banners, blue balloons, French flags and drivers honking horns, completed the pandemonium. Situated outside Fouquets, opposite my hotel, Sarkozy drives up to massive cheers.

I saw children sprinting through the streets for blocks to meet Sarkozy's car, and Gaullic motorcyclists queued to see a glimpse of the likely President. These people obviously felt with their French hearts this was change for the good.

To put this in perspective imagine Bush, Blair or Howard gaining such response. Howard was lucky to have a room of the faithful at his conference.

If Australians weren't registered to vote they wouldn't, many Americans don't, and British couldn't if they weren't told. The French obviously do care!

Bush was electing by a hanging chad, but Sarko (his nickname) was elected by a changing wave. That the French have famously been so anti-American, belies the fact they have elected a strong conservative, who is seen as a Bush-ally. Though in the world of realpolitik this is an appearance only.

The Opposite reaction - 'he doesn't like us'

The reaction of migrants in general I spoke to prior was one of 'fear and worry". Other French people I spoke to felt it was a victory for the Right Wing, although it must be remembered that the French Right is not as far right as other countries.

One Mauritian immigrant I spoke with said she voted for him "because he would remove all the illegal immigrants that my taxes are paying. France should not have to pay for boat-people to get health care."

However, another second-generation Tunisian migrant I spoke with said it simply, "He doesn't like us very much."

Another Indian migrant, who was not a French citizen, said "no comment".

Is this more of the Tampa Bay that kept Howard, Australia's Prime Minister in office. The rise of the Right might be the big story here, in the perceived most entrenched of socialist countries, France.

And so that is the concern, the feeling is he may move to the middle, but he is obviously perceived to be more a Bush-style, for better or worse.

Most migrants I spoke to in my informal conversations about Global Innovation, noted to me that "Sarkozy, Bush and Blair were more of the same." Blair is widely regarded negatively among migrants I spoke to.

I was across the road in the Prince De Galles where the President is dining at establishment Fouquets, whilst the immigrants maintain security.

So there you have it, a wide-eyed little boy with a sign saying "young people with Nicolas Sarkozy", and a simple saying, "he doesn't like us very much."

Viewpoint
Either way you look at it this is change, whether it is an innovation for the greater good depends on whether you ask little French boys or migrants. Time will tell, as great men are written by their deeds not their words, not the words read from the Howard and Blair guide to getting elected.

Although he has to face Royal in a run-off, Sarkozy is looking like President.

PHOTO: Copyright (c) 2007, Consolidated Melbourne Holdings Pty Ltd.
Any journalist is licensed non-exclusively to use this photo for all media use, provided he or she states clearly and explicitly either in print or verbally that the photo originated from 2thinknow^TM, and link to our website 2thinknow.com.

Christopher Hire
Innovator-In-Chief
+61 130 076 8176

The author would like to state that he does not have a personal bias in the outcome of the campaign and is just reporting what people said to him, and he saw as part of his Global innovation Conversation.

talk@2thinknow.com

2thinknowTM | Global Innovation Agency

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