April 16, 2005
HE SHOULD CAMPAIGN AGAINST IT IF HE WANTS IT TO PASS:
Chirac's EU push sways few voters (Katrin Bennhold and Judy Dempsey, April 16, 2005, International Herald Tribune)
A high-profile television appearance by President Jacques Chirac failed to turn around opposition in France to the new European constitution six weeks before the country holds a referendum on the issue, according to an opinion poll taken right after the broadcast.Fifty-six percent of respondents with an opinion said they planned to vote "no" on May 26, a poll conducted Friday by the Paris-based CSA institute showed, in line with 13 surveys over the past month. A third of respondents said they were still undecided.
Among those respondents who watched the president live on Thursday night or talked about his performance with others afterward only 40 percent said they were convinced by his arguments, the poll showed.
The findings, to be published Saturday in the newspaper Le Parisien, may reinforce doubts by senior politicians and observers in France and elsewhere in Europe that Chirac has the authority to convince enough voters to endorse the constitution.
At the point where you're depending on a French leader's moral authority you may as well just head for the cattle car. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 16, 2005 8:10 AM
It ought to be fun to see how this one gets blamed on Bush or the mysterious, evil Jews if the French turn down the EU constitution.
Posted by: John at April 16, 2005 9:24 AMHow out of touch are they at the Elysee Palace to even think that a staged town meeting with Jacques Chirac is going to convince anybody? If anything, the natural cynicism of every francais will force him to conclude that if the Constitution is so important to Chirac, then it must really, really be bad for the average guy.
As for 'mysterious, evil Jews', Laurent Fabius is heading the 'NON' campaign.
Posted by: bart at April 16, 2005 10:02 AM