Could Ed Morrissey be responsible for a ‘non’ vote in France?
From the UK Independent:
With four weeks to go until France’s crucial verdict on the EU constitution in a national referendum, Europe’s political elite are coming to terms with a new fact: the battle may yet be won and lost in cyberspace.
Both sides of the debate are using the internet, but it is the “no” campaign that seems to have sparked the imagination of French bloggers, with their conspiratorial, informal, anti-establishment websites. Opponents of the constitution are exploiting the new medium to present themselves as younger, trendier and more passionate about their cause than “yes” voters.
The burgeoning power of bloggers to transform the political landscape became clear in Canada last month when a judge attempted to ban the reporting of the testimony of a key witness in hearings into a political scandal that threatens to topple the Liberal government of Paul Martin. The Canadian press obeyed the order but details of the testimony were published by a blogger in neighbouring Minnesota, beyond the reach of Canadian law. The judge was compelled to lift the black-out and what was then revealed, involving millions of dollars of kickbacks paid to the Liberal Party by advertising firms in Quebec, has led to a crisis for Mr Martin…
Here’s a link to one of the French anti-EU constitution websites, Pour moi c’est non, and here’s a link to a pdf of part of their platform. The popular sentiment in France appears to be against “le liberalisme” which is often seen coming from the “Anglo-Saxon” world, i.e., America. Of course, the truth is that high wage America is not the problem. As with Germany, the problem is both closer to home and further away — the ten new EU countries and China.
Chart via the Economist.