Comments on: François Bayrou as the “third man” http://blog.gmfus.org/2007/03/14/francois-bayrou-as-the-third-man/ Strengthening Transatlantic Cooperation Tue, 6 Jan 2009 09:22:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Jack Thurston http://blog.gmfus.org/2007/03/14/francois-bayrou-as-the-third-man/#comment-766 Jack Thurston Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:43:30 +0000 http://blog.gmfus.org/2007/03/14/francois-bayrou-as-the-third-man/#comment-766 One of the problems that Bayrou faces is that he could not expect to have much strength in Parliament, as his UDF party is weak at a local level. Could he play this to his advantage, arguing that a form of co-habitation with other parties will be the way to heal France? Italy and Germany have both recently elected mega-coalitions while the UK, which is usually seen as having a political system that abhors coalition, may be heading towards a Parliament in which no single party has overall control. In the US, the last Congressional elections returned the country to the norm of the 80s and 90s when there was a President from one party and a Congress from another. Is this the death of strong party identification? Are people looking for candidates for the top offices who transcend party (like Arnold Schwarzenegger in California)? One of the problems that Bayrou faces is that he could not expect to have much strength in Parliament, as his UDF party is weak at a local level.

Could he play this to his advantage, arguing that a form of co-habitation with other parties will be the way to heal France?

Italy and Germany have both recently elected mega-coalitions while the UK, which is usually seen as having a political system that abhors coalition, may be heading towards a Parliament in which no single party has overall control. In the US, the last Congressional elections returned the country to the norm of the 80s and 90s when there was a President from one party and a Congress from another.

Is this the death of strong party identification? Are people looking for candidates for the top offices who transcend party (like Arnold Schwarzenegger in California)?

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