Say it ain't so: Bertrand Delanoë has put up his pre-Congress Web site, and if anything it's even more vapid than Ségolène Royal's. "Let us take the full measure of the work to be done ..." "The first principle is to cast a lucid eye on the difficulties ..." "The second principle is to advocate political solutions that truly respond to the diagnosis we come up with ..." Etc. etc.
It's enough to make you long for a little American-style pandering. How about a gasoline tax rebate? At least it's a concrete proposal.
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About This Site
Arthur Goldhammer, the originator of this blog, has been a student and observer of French politics since 1968. In that time I've translated more than 100 books from the French, including Tocqueville's Democracy in America. I chair the seminar for visiting scholars at Harvard's Center for European Studies and am a member of the editorial board of French Politics, Culture, and Society. You can read some of my writing on French politics and history here and a short bio here. From time to time I will include posts by other students of France and French politics (accessible via the index link "guest"). My hope is that this site will become a gathering place for all who are interested in discussing and analyzing political life in France. I've also created a shared page via Google Reader where you will find links to articles I've flagged from the Web.
Everything on this site except guest posts is copyright Arthur Goldhammer (c) 2007-8. All rights reserved.
Everything on this site except guest posts is copyright Arthur Goldhammer (c) 2007-8. All rights reserved.
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2 comments:
Bertrand's work in the Mairie de Paris has been extraordinary and it greatly affected Parisians' everyday life. He's a successful Mayor. He's popular, but not a demagogue. From the extraordinary display of the PS circus that we have on stage at the moment, he's by far the most partisan, un vrai adhérent. What is wrong in listening to what he has to say on the issues, when the time will be ripe?
For one, I listened to him saying that he got his PS membership card long time ago, and he's not planning to desert his ground to the right like many other celebrities did. After refusing to say whether he's going to run for the nomination, he said that some years ago he was brought to the hospital and didn't know if he's going to live to see the end of his mandate in the Ηôtel de Ville. Though, as he added, he has a thousand other things to do: "j'aime l'amour, j'aime la beauté, j'aime la jeunesse ... ". And I think that many people will be convinced by that statement.
This echoes a completely different disposition towards professional politics, in complete dissonance with the enarchs that have ambitions that way overwhelm their capabilities ...
Form must follow expedience. Delanoe's style and behavior is an excellent display for the PS. Let's hear the guy on the issues, and then let's decide. But please let him be heard!
Anonymous,
I agree that Delanoë has been a good mayor, and I have praised him previously on this blog, in particular for his critique of the campaign waged by the PS in the presidential elections. He was one of the few Socialists to offer substantive criticisms. But if he wants to be heard on the issues, let him speak, rather than clear his throat, as the Web site does. Presumably this site is his answer to Royal's version of "particpatory democracy via the Internet." He is listening, or pretending to be listening, to what people say. But I have done enough teaching to know that if you want to elicit what people are really thinking, sometimes it helps to prompt them with what you are thinking. Delanoë needs to be a little more forthright about his candidacy. By all means, hear him--but before he can be heard, he has to say something.
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