French Media Articles About the U.S. Election

The Flophouse remained under a media blackout until 8:00 this morning.  Then with coffee in hand I had a look at the headlines in the U.S. and France.  I started with the New York Times and first thing I saw was all that BLUE on the map and the words, Obama's Night.  From this I gathered that the U.S. president was re-elected yesterday.

Once I got that and the results of the local races clear in my head, I went straight to the French papers to get their reactions.

Let's start with Le Monde.  The front-page headline this morning was:   Obama réélu : "Le meilleur est à venir" (Obama re-elected: "The best is yet to come").

Another headline focused on the Republicans and the failure of their strategy:   La stratégie électorale des républicains n'a pas fonctionné which they say was designed to make do without the state of Ohio even though "aucun conservateur n'avait gagné la Maison Blanche sans l'Ohio depuis plus d'un siècle." (no conservative has won the White House without Ohio in over a century.)  Clearly this plan had a few design flaws.

And finally Le Monde had an article about what some members of the American community in Paris  were doing last night:  Une nuit américaine à Paris (An American Night in Paris).  Looks like my fellow Americans abroad here have assimilated the French idea that anything and everything are  good reasons to party, drink and dance.

"Dans plusieurs quartiers, ils ont loué des bars et des restaurants, bien décidés à faire la fête quels que soient les résultats du scrutin. Les jeunes militants de l'association Democrats Abroad, qui représente le parti démocrate à l'étranger, ont privatisé le Palais Maillot pour une soirée dansante."
(In several neighborhoods, they rented bars and resturants, planning to party regardless of the voting results.  The young militants of Democrats Abroad, who represent the Democrat party outside the U.S., even booked the Palais Maillot for an evening of dancing.)

And

Des Américains plus fortunés se sont retrouvés dans les salons luxueux de l'hôtel Pershing Hall, près des Champs Elysées – un lieu très symbolique, qui fut le quartier général du corps expéditionnaire américain pendant la première guerre mondiale, puis le siège parisien de l'American Legion. Le ticket d'entrée était à 80 euros, consommations non comprises. 

Dans un esprit de rassemblement patriotique, l'événement a été organisé conjointement par les sections parisiennes des deux associations Democrats Abroad et Republicans Abroad. 

(Wealthier Americans gathered in the luxurious rooms of the hotel, Pershing Hall near the  Champs Elysées - a symbolic location that was the headquarters of the American expeditionary force during World War I and is now the Paris seat of the American Legion.  Tickets were 80 Euros with food and drink not included. 

In the spirit of a patriotic gathering, the event was sponsored jointly by the Parisian chapters of Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad.)

Moving on the Le Figaro.

Funny but they seem a lot less enthusiastic than Le Monde about an Obama victory.  Their headline was:  L'Amérique offre quatre ans de plus à Barack Obama (America offers four more years of Barack Obama).

In this article  Les républicains gardent la main sur la Chambre des représentants, they point out that the Republicans still have a majority in House of Representatives and in another article they warn that
Obama va être vite confronté au risque de paralysie (Obama will be quickly faced with a risk of [political] paralysis).

La configuration politique promet en effet d'être quasiment la même qu'auparavant au Congrès: les Républicains gardent la Chambre et les démocrates semblent assurés de garder le Sénat. «Cette élection a montré un pays divisé», explique David Gergen, ancien conseiller de Reagan.
(The political landscape promises to be exactly the same as before concerning the Congress:  the Republicans with a majority in the House of Representatives and the Democrats assured of keeping the Senate. 'This election shows a divided country,' explains David Gergen, former advisor to Reagan.)

And finally here are the headlines from three others: 

Le Parisien :  Les «plus chaleureuses félicitations» de Hollande à Obama (Warmest congratulation from Hollande to Obama)

L'Humanité:  Barack Obama président pour 4 ans de plus (Barack Obama will govern for 4 more years)

La Croix: L’Amérique accorde un second mandat à Barack Obama (America gives a second mandate to Barack Obama).

Bonne lecture, everyone!