What does "conservative" for the French really mean

[jChicago]

The "conservative" candidate ran against a socialist.

The conservative candidate was a key player in Chirac's party.

Chirac was against the war.

He's probably to the left many Democrats except possibly on the issue of immigration, no?

He just pushed Bush on global warming and makes fun of our healthcare system.

I'm not saying he's a great option, just that I think the label conservative is misleading.

Can someone shed some light?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I'm confused

the French are supposed to be 'prissy' and 'communist'... so why did they vote in a fascist instead of a socialist?
:shrug:

[Vexatious Ape]

2. A conservative in France would be to far Left wing to win on the

Democratic ticket in this country.

[Warpy]

3. That's right

but his bias would be pro business, plus this character sounds like another Israel Firster.

[dsc]

4. I am no expert but what little I have read suggests that he is vastly

more conservative than Chirac. France will be very different from now on if what I read is true.

[camero]

5. He ran like Le Pen

and he'll govern like him too. It'll be interesting to see if there are any general strikes or riots with that guy in there.

[dave_p]

6. It's far stronger in France

"Conservative"'s still almost an insult - I think it carries the taint of the interwar right that went on to support collaboration. British-style conservatives tended to call themselves Modérés. Today the candidate of the right will usually be referred to as "the candidate of the right", whether they're Gaullist or from one of the other groups (though that distinction's nearly obsolete now).

I'd say Sarko's a conservative in British more than in French or US parlance. But he's certainly cast himself as the savior of the other, more conservative France alongside everything else - not least on his targeting of immigrants.

There's nothing you can really say is left about him. He hasn't called for the wholesale dismantling of France's mighty state sector, but there's worrying talk of scaling back social expenditure. Top taxes will be cut (from a maximum of 60% to 50%, this time). And he's certainly more sympathetic to the Bush White House than his predecessor was.

Sarkozy's UMP grouping actually has a "blue ecologist" wing (in Europe the right is blue, the left is red). And remember Thatcher made environmental concerns a part of her package. So it's not an area where the left has a monopoly.

As for making fun of the US healthcare system... well, he's French - wouldn't you? :D

[Odin2005]

14. Thatcher was one of the first world leaders to consider global warming a big problem

I always bring that point up whenever some denialist moran screams about GW being "Librul lies."

[dave_p]

15. Good idea

Indeed she was. And oddly I never heard it called "Tory lies"!

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. Chirac was not against the war because he is a pacifist

He is no lefty. He was opposed to the war for economic reasons. France had a lot of economic ties with Iraq.

[dave_p]

8. There's more to it than that

Chirac was against the war because it was dumb. he just isn't dumb.

[Selatius]

9. Sarkozy would not have won if he threatened to dismantle France's health care system

Nor would he have won if he threatened to place the entire burden of running public universities on the shoulders of students by making them pay tens of thousands of Euros in tuition, nor would he have won if he threatened to make it easier to fire 20-something workers or lower the minimum wage.

He might junk the 35-hour work week and bring back the 40-hour work week though, and he might begin singling out minorities in the country for further scrutiny and surveillance, and he might make it extremely hard for poor people and Blacks to immigrate to France.

[illinoisprogressive]

10. nothing like here. France is not repressive like here. The definition is more

reformist than anything.

[SoCalDem]

11. He's anti-immigration and anti-union..

If their legislative body is careful, he won't do irreparable harm, but he sounds like the antithesis of what the french claim to be.

Looks like he was swept to power on a xenophobic wave

[jChicago]

12. thanks everyone -- that does help clarify some things

I guess in his autobiography it says he believes in the social safety net, is very pro gun control, and some other things the repugs would find, well, repugnant.

He kind of reminds me of the Iranian prez in that he is willing to say just about anything thing that comes to mind. This part should be interesting.

In the end, I think he's going to be too polarizing. Given the current climate in France, this is a discouraging and most likely dangerous outcome.

[sutz12]

13. If you want to see a European conservative....look to California..

In European terms, Swartzenegger is pretty conservative. Here he's a closet liberal. :)