In every election, at some point, a careless or story-less editor dresses up a warmed-over non-story, as below, with an anxious headline about the outcome, as below.

OUTCOME UNCERTAIN IN FRENCH ELECTION
LAVAL, France April 12, 2007 (Houston Chronicle/AP)

[Pause.] Yes. Well, where electoral outcomes are certain, as in Cuba, there is no real necessity for holding elections, much less reporting them. In a freely contested election the outcome is meant to be uncertain until the ballots are counted. Sadly, this puts news editors in the ticklish position of asking reporters to do a little reporting instead of phoning in non-stories about the uncertainty of the vote.

Below are the current standings of all certified candidates.

QUESTION: WHO WOULD YOU VOTE FOR
IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?
April 13, 2007 (Angus Reid)

	Apr. 11	Apr. 5	Mar. 29
Nicolas Sarkozy	27%	26%	26%
Ségolène Royal	25%	23.5%	24.5%
François Bayrou	19%	21%	19.5%
Jean-Marie Le Pen	15%	16%	15%
Olivier Besancenot	3.5%	3.5%	3%
Marie-George Buffet	2%	2%	4%
Arlette Laguiller	2%	2%	2%
José Bové	2%	1.5%	2%
Dominique Voynet	1.5%	1.5%	1%
Frédéric Nihous	1.5%	1.5%	1%
Philippe de Villiers	1%	1%	1.5%
Gérard Schivardi	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%

Source: CSA / Le Parisien
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 876 French adults, conducted on Apr. 10 and Apr. 11, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

Who are these folk? See our earlier scorecard post.

PFFT (What is this?): The suspense is deadening 2½ | Rayonnement français 0