Paul C. Adams by Atlantic Reverberations

Author:Atlantic Reverberations [Inconnu(e)]
Language: fra
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-02T13:39:08.267000+00:00

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Newspaper Reporting: Restraint and Balance

111

The blending of No Difference and Big Difference motifs had much to do with

the fact that French opinion leaders did not choose sides in a way that was easily

understood. If we want to come up with a simple prediction of their response all

we have to do is note that the French political spectrum is wider than that of the

US and shifted substantially to the left. “Middle of the road” in France is therefore

equivalent to the Democratic position in the US while American “middle of the road”

corresponds to the position of the French Right. Because of this difference between

French and US political positions, the French socialists who dominate the left might

well dismiss the Democrats as scarcely any different than Republicans since both are

positioned to their right, while centrists in France might be expected to welcome the

Democrat with open arms. This was not the case. A Le Monde article of November

2 (Séquence France 2004, 7) characterized the attitude across France’s political

spectrum as “anyone but Bush.” The subtitle of this article explained ambiguously:

“If they had to declare a position in the American presidential election, Tuesday the

2nd of November, French politicians on all sides would vote mainly for John Kerry.

Many of them nevertheless deplore the similarities between the Democratic candidate

and the incumbent.” No Difference and Big Difference are again clearly contending

here. The principal support for the No Difference position comes from Maurice

Leroy of the centrist UDF party who proclaimed that “the difference between Kerry

and Bush is the thickness of cigarette paper.” Alain Krivine of the Trotskyite LCR

party concurred that “the drama is that between these two there is no true choice for

society,” and a Green Party representative, Noël Mamère, admitted reluctantly that

he would feel “obligated to vote for Kerry even if dragging my feet.” Meanwhile,

several socialist politicians who were interviewed for the story expressed a strong

preference for Kerry: “In Paris people often turn up their nose at Kerry,” lamented

Jack Lang, adding: “I would vote against Bush, but also for Kerry, and without a

second of hesitation.” His support is echoed by another socialist, Jean-Christophe

Jambadélis, who calls himself “One hundred percent pro-Kerry.” Meanwhile Jean-

Marie Le Pen, the neo-fascist candidate who electrified France’s 2002 election and,

by frightening the Left, ultimately opened the door for Jacques Chirac (from the right

wing UMP party), stood almost alone in his preference for Bush. In short, Kerry’s

strongest supporters were not those with positions closest to his, but rather those of

the French left who were well left of Kerry himself. Meanwhile, the French center

and the Greens strove to maintain neutrality despite the similarity of their political

stance to that of the Democrat by promoting the “no difference” motif while the far

Right sided predictably with Bush. Newspapers looking to these political leaders for

ideological guidance would find a contradictory set of guideposts.

Comprehension of Kerry’s position improved throughout the duration of the

campaign. Taking a sample from mid-summer, an article in Le Figaro argued that

“At 14 weeks from the presidential election, the image of the Democratic candidate

is all the more scrambled because

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