And it hasn't worked, because in most people's perceptions, what they see inside the boob tube is more real to them and carries more weight than what happens in the village hall.
I'm not sure people want leaders who listen to them, so much as leaders who already know what they want to do. Then they can vote for the plans.
Dialogue doesn't seem to sell, as such.
Where's the French netroots in all this? Is there any significant netroots scene at all?
Right, anything corresponding to DKos or something?
Also, sorry if I missed this in any recent diaries or threads, but have there been any polls broken down by age groups, and if so, any indication whether younger voters lean more towards Sarkozy or Royal? Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
No. Perhaps tribeuro.fr may have an ambition of that kind?
I haven't got age breakdowns to hand.
what they see in the tubes is not more real than reality.. what they see in the tubes is the narrative.. so you must really know the narrative they want to hear.. either from the tubes, newspapers, face to face talk.
Only when the media distorts your narrative , then you have a problem with MSM and the control of the campaign..(te problem democrats face in the US) actually when there is a MSM consensus agaisnt your narrative. This becomes a problem. Given the dual nature of most European media markets I guess that is not a porblem for Seg.
And regarding Spain, I am quite positive about what the 10-15 % moving bloc wants (not so sure about the base of each party).. they want a listening figure that once in a while shoves it to someone....and keeps the economy fuming.
besides this bloc ,in Spain, there is an important segment of the lectorate which does not seem to exist in france or England. A 10% block of purely left-wing voters who hardly vote. There are on million peple in Spain who would never vote a right-wing party. NEVER. OVER their dead bodies... but they almost never vote!.. Creating a narrative of "all are the same" or "media noise" to state that the PSOE president is not worthy is key to block this electorate.
I am wondering what kind of narrative the moving block wants in France... and if there is such a thing as reliable left-wing-once-in-a-while voters.
A pleasure I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude
Unfortunately, French mass media are heavily tilted towards Sarko. The narrative that has gone over up to now (a sub-text narrative, not clearly stated) is that Royal is a woman and however nice she may be she can't cut it and makes blunders he-he-he, (and she doesn't have a programme), while Sarko is obviously a competent man in a suit (who has a programme, of course).
Otherwise, I don't really think either candidate has run a good campaign to date. Sarkozy can't get his image straight between authoritarian right and a need to look for voters in the centre; Royal has staked a great deal on the participative process and now finds herself up against a make-or-break moment I wish she and her campaign people had been smarter about.
There's not much talk about swing voters for the moment. (I take it that's what you mean by "moving bloc"). However, polls show about 20% undecided.
so theya re like small groups with no cohesion? well, that can certainly be true.
Public broadcasting is supposed to be neutral, but the more it is mass (the main TV channels) the less that ie really true. The information/news services of the two most popular public channels (France 2 and 3) pass Sarko's stuff unquestioningly.
It's a pay channel and not one of the (supposed) information/news purveyors.
But you don't mean to say that the "masses" by and large incline rightward (and thus put pressure on the main TV channels to serve up more right-friendly fare), do you? Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
The chief managers are quasi-political appointees (meaning they are professionals but chosen for the side they lean towards) and the heads of news/magazines/political interview and debate programmes are carefully picked, along with news anchors etc. No one's around who might rock the boat politically, unless it's after midnight... ;) The left under Mitterand did the same (so it's not response to demand), but it's true the right has tended to view the Republic as their property, and public broadcasting with it, in a more consistent way throughout the half-century of the Ve Republic.
Actually, in Spain the level can reach the 3M people as Mig says in some ocasions.. but the ahrd-core almost never-voting group is around 1M (methinks). Probably in UK it must be of the same order..and too disperse to have an impact? I dunno Besides labor is not as left-wing as PSOE is on social,police,judicial, labour and foreign affairs issues.
Besides labor is not as left-wing as PSOE is on social,police,judicial, labour and foreign affairs issues.
True, but what brought it to mind is that it is largely those left-wing voters in the UK who are sitting and not voting for the Labour party.
(A quick explanation in case anyone can't decipher the code, the issue in the UK is that under the First Past the Post system, the spread of the disenfranchised is mostly across "safe Labour seats" and so Tony Blair (for example) loses little by ignoring these people.)
The Scottish element that was feeling that way has sort of showed up in part in relation to the Scottish Nationalists. Although there are a couple of left-wing independents in the Assembly there.
I have no idea about Wales to be honest.
NI is dominated by sectarian issues.
Turnout for the EP elections is so low in general it's hard to separate out effects. 39% in 2004, but 28% in 1999. One could argue about the Green Party or the fact that the Tories + UKIP did so well...
London - I don't know the constituency breakdown well enough, but it looks to me like the effect is there somewhat.
The 1M heavy non-voter left-wing bloc Answer: No Way .. if anthropology is at the slightest a science
The other 2 Millions who seem to get activated more often than the others... (they got out only acouple of tiems at the most) mmmhhh
mmmhhh......
Answer: No fraking clue!!!
