Earlier today at The Reaction, well before polls opened, I offered some analysis of today’s presidential election in France. You can find that post here.
For more on the leading candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, see here. For more on the two other top candidates, Ségolène Royal and François Bayrou, see here and here.
**********
Here’s the latest from the BBC:
Centre-right leader Nicolas Sarkozy will meet Socialist Segolene Royal in the run-off of France’s presidential election on 6 May, exit polls suggest.
Mr Sarkozy, a former interior minister, came first with 30%, ahead of Ms Royal, who is bidding to be France’s first woman president, on 25.2%.
Centrist Francois Bayrou got 18.3%, and far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen 11.5%.
Voting throughout the day reached record numbers, with turnout put at 84% — the highest for nearly 50 years.
A strong showing for Sarkozy, as well as for Royal, if the numbers hold up. Bayrou apparently hasn’t won over enough of the centrist undecideds to mount a challenge for second. And — and this is very good news — there’s been no “bump” for Le Pen, which means Sarkozy may have been quite successful in his efforts to reach out to rightist voters (which could hurt him in the second round).
The question now is whether a unified left-center opposition to Sarkozy will emerge out of this round. Le Pen’s supporters presumably will go with Sarkozy. Will Bayrou’s go with Royal?