Political Campaigns, a Window on National Characteristics

The two French candidates

Barack Obama with his wife on stage

2012 is a very interesting year in terms of politics for a French who travels to America. During spring, I witnessed the events of the French political campaign, which was quite exhilarating. 6 months later, I have the opportunity to be where the American political campaign takes place. This blessed twist of fate naturally led me to make a comparison between those two campaigns and, one thing leading to another, to observe the political characteristics of the USA and France.

Political shows à l'americaine

Let's tackle the way politicians run for presidency in the USA and in France.

Can you see any differences or resemblances between the last presidents of the USA and of France?

The greatest characteristic that I could observe is the way the American candidates conduct their speeches.
French people call it the shows à l'americaine (the American way). Let me explain. The characteristics are a huge audience, American flags waving in every direction, a stage similar to a TV stage and a great orator that can inflame the crowd.
As far as I am concerned, the best example is Barack Obama in 2008 with his famous slogan "Yes we can".

The form plays a great part in the American voters' decision.

Now, I will show you one of the speeches of the previous candidate and now French president, Francois Hollande. It does not matter that you don't understand the meaning of his words. Just listen to the way he is speaking, very calm, modest, serious, even cool, and not very exhilarating:

The official poster of Francois Hollande

It seems clear that French voters did not elect him president because he could impassion the crowd. Francois Hollande is very quiet, even insipid which actually his campaign strategy was. French people want from their president someone they can rely on and they associate this with a serious figure. So, it did not matter that this candidate was not a great orator, which can be striking for Americans.                     

 Barack Obama used political marketing to win the elections in 2008. His campaign logo was worthy (and very similar to) the one of a huge company. More than marketing themselves, American politicians are much mediatized and do not hesitate to put their family and their personal lives in the news. French voters do not appreciate too mediatized politicians. Nicolas Sarkozy was strongly denounced by the media and the population because he was omnipresent in the news and talked too much about his personal life.

The biggest criticism of Nicolas Sarkozy was that he was to "bling-bling" and exposed too much his private life.

On the contrary, in the USA, more than being in the news, candidates' families actually deliver speeches. We all have in mind Michelle Obama or Laura Bush. But I discovered that the daughters of George W. Bush actually spoke in 2004. In France, it would not be well thought of. That leads us to the fact that American politicians are much more comfortable than French politicians to talk about their private lives.

Eventually, the American presidential campaigns appear to French people much more exhilarating than French presidential campaigns and especially the last one, which was regarded as quite dull by most of the French population. Maybe, French politicians should take a leaf out of the North American's book...

Sources: 

http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.lemonde.fr/