Another First For Women

From Becky Bonarek: Two women* are competing for the top spot in the Partie Socialiste, or the closest thing to the American Democratic Party. The actual title of the is Première secrétaire, which would be the equivalent to the Chairman of the Democratic/Republican National Committee. The two women on the final ballot are Martine Aubry -- who constructed the French's current 35-hour work week -- and Ségolène Royal -- a former presidential candidate who challenged Nicholas Sarkozy in the last election.

Both are very strong, very popular women in the country right now, especially within a party that is going through massive changes in response to the recent election of Barack Obama in the United States. Royal was the first woman to be considered a frontrunner in a French presidential election, so many pundits consider her a frontrunner in this final vote. She was known for wanting to distance France and the European community in general from the Bush administration, but after Obama's election, she and the rest of the Partie Socialiste aligned behind the new American administration. Aubry, the mayor of Lille in the north near the border with Belgium, is vastly popular in the party for how she deals with issues of social unrest.

Whoever the French elect will determine future relations with the country. The Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, the party most like the American Republican party, has for the past few years sympathized with the United States while the Partie Socialiste has distanced itself. This election could help set the tone for the Obama administration before it actually takes power.