France just elected someone to the left of Sarkozy, what say you?

Hard to say, their brand of corruption is totally different. Last time I was there, they drank brandy for breakfast , wine for lunch and smoked all day; but their health care and life expectancy was wayyyy ahead of ours. Maybe it's because most of their food is loaded with butter and fat.

I don't care who France elects, I just hope the americans do not "re elect".

Mr. F.Hollande is anyway better than Sarko... :)

The French people have been living under an Austerity Program put in effect by Sarkozy for the last two years. They could see it wasn't working and their economy was collapsing. They saw the problem and took a hard left to hopefully find a solution. And I think they will.
The austerity "solution" imposed by the Sarkozy administration two years ago is almost exactly what is now being proposed by the Republican/Tea Party here in the U.S. Like Sarkozy's government, the GOP wants to gut all of the "social" programs that help the middle and lower classes like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Disability benefits etc. while still allowing corporate robber barons to rake in billions and the very wealthy to to pay a ridiculously low tax rate.
I wish I had the confidence to think that the American people will see the comparison and know what needs to be done. We need to stay the course with Obama's initiatives and continue the slow but steady improvement we have seen so far. But, I think there are too many Americans who are either misinformed or don't care about the facts or the history of our economic system and are so busy waving their flags, worrying about who is sleeping with whom, and who's taking the pill, etc. to concern themselves with the economy and actually seeing that it is improving.
I believe that this is a pivotal point in our history and if Americans make the wrong choice in November, we may never recover from it.

It comes down to a few states, most of our votes, including yours in Massachusetts and mine in Texas are wholly irrelevant. My bet is that Ohio goes with Obama, in which case it would be nearly impossible for Romney to win, for better or worse.

I think Obama will take Ohio too. I hope so. And I'm hoping that Obama will run rings around Romney in the debates. I think the debates will be a big factor this year.

We can only hope.

If you look at the electoral map (projected), it's going to be damn hard for Romney to win.

You're right... if Obama takes Ohio, Romney's toast.

But even if Romney wins Ohio Obama has a variety of paths to victory. I think he'll take Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire, which would him short by only 7 votes. If ANY of the other swing states go to Obama in that scenario, he wins.

Good for them. A few good liberal ideas is just what Europe needs. The conservatives in power over there in Italy and Greece are destroying the economy with all their austerity measures. You need to keep people working in an economic downturn, not lay them off. Look at Germany as an example.

The GOP is petrified of the German model. No minimum wage, every salary bargained for; 90% unionized. Summer and winter vacations. Socialized medicine. They just don't want to hear it.

Forgot; one thing the GOP will never hear is in Germany, the tax rate for the poor is 0, for over Euro 250,000, it's 45%. Sell that to the cons!

Conservatives are more likely to believe the earth is flat than government spending can help the economy.

Any time the working class starts to gain a little power both politically and economically, the conservative "ruling" class has to knock them down. They like haiving all the power and money...

Absolutely; and they do best in times of recession/depression when people are desperate and will work for anything.

A sign of the 'economic' times. A symbolic storming of the Bastille along with what happened in Greece will have implications for the rest of the world. Somehow, many in the USA fail to understand the interdependence of the global economic system. Hopefully some stability will come out of all of this. But who knows, there will be predictions on top of predictions. We are still going through a global economic revolution that fed unprecedented growth and subsequent decline due to technological advances, that affected the job markets. Many who are unemployed will stay unemployed if they are focusing on a come back of the old job market.. It is gone forever, obsolete and replaced by more technical savvy demanding positions. And the 'revolution' goes on. It simply took some strange fluke to trigger it. the consumers and producers were so busy enjoying it, and profiting from it, that they failed, with intent and design to look at the big picture and take a long look down the the road. So the road ahead might still be a long ways behind.

The whole "job" idea has to be revisited. One of my jobs was an income tax company that employed 50 people, years ago. Recently, I bought a CD that does the same thing, for $1. People have to work from home, or for 4 hrs a day. Minimum wage has to at least double or triple. People cannot spend $4 gal. for gas, and work for $7 hr.

First of all they did choose for next President.

It would also be more respectful if you would call him by his name:
François Hollande.

Reading here, what could else could I expect from some US-SH's;
they think what does this have to do with me?
They see the word socialist and project their limited views about what a socialist in todays Europe means, on it.
Than their anti-Islam sentiments are shining through.

Maybe Americans think that they have the luxery to think, nothing to do with me.

Smaller countries are more interested in what happens in the world because they need to.
What happens in the bigger nations in the world has an immidiate effect on the smaller ones.

That's why a lot of US-SH's aren't really interested, less educated, on the that what is going on in the rest of the world.
For a big country as the U.S. that is a contradiction.
Because of their size they should be more interested, however because of their size they aren't!

You have good insight. We're (Americans) not all the same though. I don't suffer from most of the things you mention. Oh, by the way, I'm not sure what you mean by the word "seize", maybe "power".

She meant SIZE not POWER. For a country our SIZE, we are a contradiction to the rest of the world because we clearly are ignorant of what happens in the world and worse, we think we're above it. We are not informed, or educated about our political or economic systems or those of other countries. We think we're too big to fail. Guess again. We are on the edge right now and if the GOP gets the reigns, we may never recover. At least not in my lifetime. This November election is a make or break time for us and I'm not confident that Americans will choose the correct course.
p.s. I wish I spoke French as well as she speaks English. Another failure of our educational system. Most Europeans speak English better than most Americans do.

Thank you for your assistence!

You mention: We (Americans) think we're above it.
I think that is to the point!
Many think from the American Exceptionalism attitude.
You might not agree with it but you can notice it in all kinds of everyday issues, problems, conversations etc.

If you think your above it why should you learn another language?
If you think above it why should you abide by the same international law and agreements the rest has to?
If you think your above it why should you learn from the solutions other countries found for problems that also occur in the US.

In The Netherlands it is obligatory to learn English, German and French at secondary school.
English and German has stayed through the years on a level that I don't have any difficulty to follow a conversation, discussion whatever.
To write it has become a bit rusty through the years., I know that!
French, by lack of use, has limited itself now, I know the basics, that is all!

I wasn't giving her a hard time. I agree with you.

I know. Sorry if I came across that way.

I see Pat did write to you what I ment.
It is SIZE, I choose the right word, did write it wrong however. I will correct this!

Ofcourse I know that all Americans aren't the same.
There are also a lot of sensable US-SH's; sometimes I meet them here; it is like a breeze of fress air.
Their input is very much appriciated!

It shows what what I have known all along the French are smarter than the rest.

Just means more financial unrest.

Take a deep breath....its a bumpy ride, folks.

the will be an exodus of any and everyone who has any wealth because of tax hikes this guy proposes so entitlements could keep going. Socialism is what got them in this mess and it will not get them out of it. Frankly, I couldn't care but look what it has done already to stockmarkets - if lucky,maybe this will be the end of the EU or Germany leaving since it is supporting the rest

I thought he was OK. Who knows what this other person will be like? I guess we'll see.

Europe is in big trouble after Sunday's election..bark

The people of course voted for the Welfare "Gimme" for free candidate. They are already nearly bankrupt, so socialism is expected to get them back on track. Tax the Rich 75% and give it to the less fortunate who did not earn it.

Golleeeeee! that sounds like the wants of the Occupy folks, and Obama is promising. I fear thet the same isgoing to happen here in November. Hope and Change moving forward on the backs of the people that worked to get ahead.

2 words. FREEDOM FRIES.

Par.

I'm in America. Until it begins to affect me I have no opinion.

I've heard a lot of folks suggest that that election would be an indicator for the rest of the world in some ways...

Any examples?

...potential effects on stock market, policies, and elections in Europe and the States, and ROW. An indication of the sentiment of people. The guy that beat Sarkozy has suggested a 75% tax on the top tax bracket in France. France is way to the left of the ROW, but still a potential indicator of where the heads at of folks all over. A sign that the debt crisis has frustrated people. I think the guy wants to spend less and tax more. also could effect decisions in Europe of what to do with Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, etc. from countries like Germany.

Damn broke ass France. History is gonna repeat itself. They just can't get out of the drain.

30% of the vote was Muslim refugees living in France. Good luck, France.