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Hollande enjoys upper hand in French polls
Francois Hollande charged back into campaign mode on Monday with momentum on his side to capture France’s presidency, after the Socialist won the most votes in the first round of voting that put him into a runnoff with conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
However, in the ballot’s biggest surprise, the nearly one in five voters who chose far right candidate Marine Le Pen may hold the key to victory in the decisive vote on May 6.
Hollande remains favorite to win the runoff after besting Sarkozy in the first round.
If Hollande wins the second round, he would become the first Socialist president since 1995. His election could also alter Europe’s political and economic landscape at a time when the continent is seeking a clear direction to overcome its calamitous debt crisis.
Polls taken Sunday night continued to show Hollande is likely to best Sarkozy in their head-to-head matchup two weeks from now by around 10 percentage points — in line with the trend of most polls for months. Both Hollande and Sarkozy resumed campaigning Monday after a two-day pause to comply with election regulations that forbid campaigning from midnight Friday until 8 pm Sunday.
Sarkozy was headed to Tours in the Loire valley, while Hollande traveled to Quimper and Lorient in far-western Brittany. On Monday Sarkozy suggested he’d be tacking at least somewhat to the right for the second round, in a bid to attract disgruntled National Front voters.
“National Front voters must be respected, they’ve expressed a choice. It’s a vote of suffering, a vote of crisis. Why insult them?” Sarkozy said to reporters outside his Paris campaign headquarters.
“I say to them, I’ve heard you. I’ll draw all the consequences,” Sarkozy said.
Turnout was surprisingly high, at more than 80 percent, despite concern that a campaign focusing on nostalgia for a more protected past would fail to inspire voters.
The big shock of Sunday’s vote: Nearly one in five voters chose far right candidate Marine Le Pen instead, handing her a solid third place and a chance to weigh in on French politics with her anti-immigration platform that targets France’s millions of Muslims.
Political analyst Dominique Moisi pointed to the National Front’s record vote as the surprise of the first round.
Francois Hollande charged back into campaign mode on Monday with momentum on his side to capture France’s presidency, after the Socialist won the most votes in the first round of voting that put him into a runnoff with conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
However, in the ballot’s biggest surprise, the nearly one in five voters who chose far right candidate Marine Le Pen may hold the key to victory in the decisive vote on May 6.
Hollande remains favorite to win the runoff after besting Sarkozy in the first round.
If Hollande wins the second round, he would become the first Socialist president since 1995. His election could also alter Europe’s political and economic landscape at a time when the continent is seeking a clear direction to overcome its calamitous debt crisis.
Polls taken Sunday night continued to show Hollande is likely to best Sarkozy in their head-to-head matchup two weeks from now by around 10 percentage points — in line with the trend of most polls for months. Both Hollande and Sarkozy resumed campaigning Monday after a two-day pause to comply with election regulations that forbid campaigning from midnight Friday until 8 pm Sunday.
Sarkozy was headed to Tours in the Loire valley, while Hollande traveled to Quimper and Lorient in far-western Brittany. On Monday Sarkozy suggested he’d be tacking at least somewhat to the right for the second round, in a bid to attract disgruntled National Front voters.
“National Front voters must be respected, they’ve expressed a choice. It’s a vote of suffering, a vote of crisis. Why insult them?” Sarkozy said to reporters outside his Paris campaign headquarters.
“I say to them, I’ve heard you. I’ll draw all the consequences,” Sarkozy said.
Turnout was surprisingly high, at more than 80 percent, despite concern that a campaign focusing on nostalgia for a more protected past would fail to inspire voters.
The big shock of Sunday’s vote: Nearly one in five voters chose far right candidate Marine Le Pen instead, handing her a solid third place and a chance to weigh in on French politics with her anti-immigration platform that targets France’s millions of Muslims.
Political analyst Dominique Moisi pointed to the National Front’s record vote as the surprise of the first round.
