Word: gaullist
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...François Mitterrand, 57, who is running with increasing power, backed by both his own party and the Communists, and Finance Minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 48, the first Establishment candidate to win a shot at the Elysée without the support of the Gaullist old guard. If the polls are to be believed, the race could hardly be tighter: one French forecast gave Giscard 51 % of the vote and Mitterrand 49% in the runoff...
...would come in second and thereby become Mitterrand's opponent in the runoff on May 19. Giscard, who had been drawing away in the polls from his archrival, former Premier Jacques Chaban-Delmas, won the competition for second place with about 33% of the vote; Chaban, the "official" Gaullist candidate, came in with roughly...
...Gaullist Mantle. Chaban's major campaign tactic has been to wrap himself in the Gaullist mantle. In the halls in which he speaks, his photo is flanked by those of Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou. As the symbol that will appear beside his name on the ballot, he has chosen De Gaulle's emblem, the cross of Lorraine-a reminder of Chaban's key role during the Resistance. After attending a Chaban rally outside Paris, TIME Correspondent George Taber noted: "Over the auditorium hung an aura of nostalgia and past triumphs. The audience was made...
Giscard's strength in the polls has been the biggest surprise of the campaign. In part this results from the "stop Chaban" movement among the Gaullists in early April, when nominations were still open. It failed, but many Gaullists are still unenthusiastic about the former Premier. Also, Giscard's image is that of a man who is brilliant, aristocratic and cool; no one has ever accused him of not being sérieux. The audiences at his rallies, considerably younger than those at Chaban's, thoroughly enjoy it when Giscard drops his professorial mien to demolish...
...Giscard maintains his momentum and outruns Chaban, the Gaullist Party will suffer a serious and perhaps fatal setback. "Then we will bury General de Gaulle for a second time," says Gaullist Minister of the Interior Jacques Chirac. In the runoff, as the sole candidate of the center and right, Giscard would be favored to top Mitterrand. The current campaign, however, has had several surprises. Thus, no one rules out the long-odds possibility that Mitterrand may just get a majority on May 5, winning the presidency and making the Giscard-Chaban duel on the right an empty exercise...