Well the municipal elections here in Toulouse are over. The Socialist Party candidate Pierre Cohen won. He narrowly defeated the UMP candidate Jean-Luc Moudenc. It was something like 51% to 49%. It was very close and the first time in 37 years that the city has been controlled by the left.
In my French class we were discussing local politics and elections. I have heard over and over that Toulouse is a very tolerant place and has a history of being for the left. La Ville Rose refers to the bricks in the city but also to the Socialist Party roots here. It was also a haven for Spanish radicals escaping Franco.In the national elections the city and surrounding regions nearly always vote left, something like 59% voted for Segolene Royal. Why then does Toulouse vote to the right for it’s municipal elections?
Our teacher thinks that in Toulouse people vote for the person that they feel will do the best job. People don’t just vote for the party they are affiliated with. She says Toulouse has always been special like this. Often voting left national but voting unpredictably for the municipal elections.
People call it a “ville droite” but it is very progressive about many things and certainly doesn’t have the trappings of most right of center cities. I’ve been to Bordeaux a few times and it just feels in the air that it is a conservative place. You can see it in the faces of the people you meet on the street. You can feel it in the markets and in the interactions of the people. There is something unmistakeable about it.
Toulouse never feels that way. I was trying to understand why it felt so progressive and yet had a mayor on the right. Maybe my teacher is right. Anyone else have an idea?
Popularity: 2% [?]
If your third paragraph is correct, Toulouse would be a model for every election. If only Americans were that savvy, we might not be suffering as we are now.
A model, I’m not so sure of that, but certainly it explains a few things here. It seems to me that people who vote republican often vote against their interests but they do so because the republicans are bettering at “energizing their voters”. They vote straight blocks. Maybe it is the same with Democrats, what do I know.