2 interesting points in French election

From the BBC article:

Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has won the hotly-contested French presidential election. The final count gave Mr Sarkozy 53.06%, compared with 46.94% for socialist Segolene Royal, with turnout at 85%.

I have two observations from that quote at the very beginning of the article. One is the obvious, that a socialist has been defeated in France. Nice start. Good for France. It is about time. Don't surrender after that first real victory.

Next is that the turnout was 85%. 85 out of every 100 voters actually went to the polls and voted in France. We are lucky if we get 10 to 15% here sometimes. Tomorrow, we have a referendum on the ballot about passing school and recreational spending bonds. They will pass, as they always do. I am still voting against them, as I usually do. But my point is simply that we will have nowhere near the 85% turnout. Even in a Presidential election, we won't get that sort of participation here in the U.S. Apathy, sheer apathy.