Word: mitterrand
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...obvious that the left's early lead was fast shrinking to invisibility. Computers tallying the vote on television soon made it clear that the leftist upset was caused by an unexpectedly poor showing by the Socialists. Watching TV in a hotel in Burgundy, Socialist Leader François Mitterrand turned to an aide and asked, "Is that really all?" Shortly thereafter, Mitterrand appeared on television to concede that "we expected to do better...
That was an understatement. The Socialists originally had figured on winning more than 25% of the ballots, and Mitterrand had repeatedly proclaimed that his party would garner at least 7 million votes. Instead, his candidates captured only 22.6%, and the party fell a half-million votes short of its goal. The Communists fared no better than they had in past elections. Their share...
...fire-and-brimstone attack on Premier Raymond Barre's anti-inflation policies, Communist Party Chief Georges Marchais declared in a Paris speech: "If I believed in God, I would promise hell for anyone who believes in austerity." Barre, for his part, ripped into Socialist Leader François Mitterrand, whose Common Program with the Communists he likened to Dr. Faust's pact with the devil. Said Barre in the city of Caen: "Monsieur Mitterrand has played with fire, and now he is beginning to burn. He signed a pact, as Faust did, to regain his youth...
...Marchais was scheduled to announce whether or not he intended to make good his threat of last January to deny the Socialists his support in the second round if his Communists failed to win at least 21% of the vote in Round 1. Although Marchais' policy differences with Mitterrand were sharp-the Communists insist on sweeping nationalization of industry-there were indications that he planned to join forces with the Socialists in order to make a leftist victory possible in Round 2. Communist Historian Jean Ellenstein told TIME last week he fully expected a leftist accord after the first...
...Even if Mitterrand and Marchais did manage to paper over their quarrel, imbalances in the makeup of France's electoral districts would require the leftist parties to win at least 52% or 53% of the popular vote before they could gain a majority in the Assembly. But a shift in France's political demographics may help the left attain that goal. Giscard's lowering of the voting age in 1974 created the youngest French electorate in 40 years. The increase in left-leaning young voters has more than counterbalanced the rise in the number of voters over...