CSPAN is airing live coverage by France 24 TV. Pundits there are calling it a "crushing defeat" for the socialists. This could mean better relations between France and the US. Sarkozy has said he would work on relations with the US. Here is a list of Sarkozy's policies.
Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has won the French presidential election, according to projections made from partial results. Mr Sarkozy is estimated to have won 53% of the vote, compared to 47% for socialist Segolene Royal. The turnout was the highest in decades at 85.5%. Mr Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, takes over from the 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, who has been in power for 12 years.
Apparently, the voters are fed up with France's immigration policies.
Mr Sarkozy, 52, pushed through measures to curb illegal immigration - including deportations - and to integrate skilled migrants into French society.
But he has also advocated positive discrimination to help reduce youth unemployment - a challenge to those wedded to the French idea of equality. His call for state help for Muslims to build mosques was also controversial.
Meanwhile the ghettos brace for possible trouble.
I did not like his word," says Karim Hamdoune, an 18-year-old from Clichy, who feels that Mr Sarkozy "branded all Arab youths as criminals".
Sniff, a 25-year-old from Clichy who says he has been beaten by police officers, blames Mr Sarkozy for the sharp deterioration in relations between police and youths.
A veiled threat? It looks like Sarkozy didn't need the criminal vote.
"Choosing Nicolas Sarkozy would be a dangerous choice," Royal told RTL radio.
"It is my responsibility today to alert people to the risk of (his) candidature with regards to the violence and brutality that would be unleashed in the country (if he won)," she said.
Pressed on whether there would be actual violence, Royal said: "I think so, I think so," referring specifically to France's volatile suburbs hit by widespread rioting in 2005.
For this alone she deserved to lose.
Tigerhawk says, "It is Time to Stop the French Jokes"
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Royal Flush
