Francois Mitterrand’s Electoral Campaign from 1981

Introduction

Campaigns are likely to influence agendas of political issues both from the point of view of the candidate and that of the voter. The candidate is forced to find out the main issues of concern to constituents, at pay lip service to the fulfilment of the constituents’ needs. In turn, the candidate wields some power in being able to direct voter attention to the issues he emphasizes. Of course, in the long run campaigns it is claimed a strong reinforcement effect on citizens’ attitude towards their own political system, and especially towards the partisan’s disposition

In the present paper I analysed François Mitterrand’s campaign from 1981 (Annexe 1, photograph 1). For a better comprehension of his campaign, we must pursue his previous attempts at the presidential seat and his political career. Mitterrand entered politics in 1946, when he was elected as a Deputy in French National Assembly. He went to the polls on the list of the Rally of the Republican Left. Between 1947 and 1958 he held several ministerial titles. In 1958 he lost his assembly’s seat and later decided to set up the Federation of the Left. In 1962 Mitterrand gain another title in the French National Assembly.

François Mitterrand went to the polls for the presidential seat four times in twenty five years, from 1965 until 1988. He lost the elections two times (1965, 1974), and won them two times (1981, 1988). In 1965, Mitterrand gained unexpectedly a good percentage of the votes. In the first ballot, he gained around 37% of the electoral votes, and in the second ballot, 44,8%. He was defeated by his tough opponent, Charles de Gaulle.

In 1974, François Mitterrand gained 43,2% of the voters in the first ballot. In the second one, his opponent was Valery Giscard d’Estaing (the candidate of the National Federation of the Independents Republicans, supported by other parties).

François Mitterrand’s campaign from 1981

The preparation for the election from 1981 began in the autumn of 1976 , when it appeared the first poster, made in collaboration with Jacques Séguéla team – this poster was made for the municipal elections. François Mitterrand is presented in a relaxed posture. He wears an open beige overcoat, a beige costume, a red scarf (the colour of the Socialist Party) coiled around his neck. He appears as a man who wants to solve all the problems of the society.

He is photographed in front of his house from Landes, with a village landscape behind him. Over his head there was a dark cloudy sky, but that was the last thing that mattered for him. The interpretation of this poster was that the socialist leader is not afraid of “political storms”. The slogan that his team has chosen for him sounded like this: “the Socialism, an idea that is re-established gradually”

On the European elections of 1979 the socialists also used pictures with François Mitterrand, as he had a promising career. The slogan that they used in this context was: “For France – Build a Europe with socialists” The poster has a rose in the right corner, it also contained the slogan, were the word “socialists” had a very important role, but the most important thing was that Mitterrand came up in the foreground. He was wearing the same costume as in 1976 (this detail was pointing up the continuity).

Seguela was the main responsible for his campaigning image. From the very beginning the Séguéla team tried to hide his flaws and to take advantage of the flexibility of the electorate by winning the votes of the ones who were hesitating about the elections. They studied very carefully the polls, which clearly showed that the French people wanted a president (a centre oriented one) who can re-establish the economic situations.