Apathy, not ignorance elected George Bush

Not that it's much of a secret, French people think Americans are ignorant. I know this because I was born and raised in Paris. I have to admit that French people have held this opinion for a long time, but that the election and subsequent reelection of George W Bush did little to dispel this widely held belief and strongly reinforced the sentiment. Whenever I come back to France, my friends and family bombard my husband with questions about the collective IQ of America and make snide remarks that Rome is burning, there's no reason to travel to America, that America has become a second rate power and so on and so forth. I've lived in America for 4 years now and I can say that my experience has not matched with this stereotype, Miss Teen South Carolina excluded.

The problem is that America is not a monolith. As everyone knows, George W. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000. But in a sense, so did Al Gore. The reason I say this is because as a foreigner I find something foreign about the low voter turnout in America. When only 54% of Americans who are eligible to vote actually participate, you end up with a President that has only been selected by a little more than one quarter of the population.

By contrast, in France voter participation is seen not as a right, but as a duty. Voter turnout is 84%. But there is more to the high voter turnout than just patriotism. I have thought about this a lot, and I've come to a conclusion. The reason for the high participation level is become of the diversity of candidates. France does not have the two party system that you find in America. There are no fewer than 3 and often many more (like 10) candidates to choose from. People are able to find a candidate they like and actually identify with. The election happens in two votes, the first to select the top 2 candidates and the second to determine the President.

France is not immune to apathy either, though. In 2000, the far right fringe candidate Jean-Marie LePen came in second in the first round of voting because people were unhappy with the candidate they were presented with. The French people were shocked back into their senses by this outcome, and turned out in droves in the second round to prevent LePen from becoming President. This episode in French history reminded everyone how important each vote is and the responsibility that every citizen bares.

In America, it seems that the choice that voters face each election is often between the one you hate and the one you hate less. That's not much of an incentive to get people involved in politics. This time around is different though and not just because everyone knows how incompetent and corrupt the Republicans are. It's because we have a candidate that people are excited about voting for, instead of the only motivation being to vote against the other guy. Want proof? See the sea of 75,000 people who showed up in Portland or the 90+% of donations in April under $200 to the Obama campaign.

If the Primaries are any indication, we are going to see a fundamental shift in voter participation. The number of people coming out to support Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has been truly astounding. When Obama wins in the fall, it is likely that he will have a strong plurality of the total electorate supporting him.

I'll be a US citizen by 2012. I hope that all of you turn out to vote for Obama this fall, so I don't become another apathetic American. For it is the apathy of the many that gives legitimacy to the ignorance of the few: this is a lesson that we've suffered for 8 years.

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