Accused of manipulation, anonymous insults… Undoubtedly, this is the riskiest survey that the company from Nice will have had to manage, with the local press not being very gentle with the analysis and result of it. There are days when one should not express these ideas, you may think, but Frédéric Ganneval seems to have seen worse and insists he did not mean to stir up trouble but simply wanted to inform about the political situation at the time, a few months before Election Day next Sunday in the polls of Nice.
Le made in Nice doesn’t even have appeal… in Nice
It is quite astonishing how it’s not simple to be Niçois outside its borders, but it is even more surprising not to be so in one’s own city. Whether Marc Concas or Jacques Peyrat say that in other bars of France, it’s better to avoid saying where one comes from, stupidity is human. But to pounce on a local company that wants to conduct a voting intention survey and which ultimately is right, we end up humanizing stupidity!
In short, it is not good to be Niçois even in Nice.
INTERVIEW FREDERIC GANNEVAL (ARTENICE)
Nice Premium: Frédéric Ganneval, what do the results of this first round of the municipal election in Nice inspire in you?
Frédéric Ganneval (Artenice): First and foremost, it’s not a surprise. Clearly, the likely score of Christian Estrosi had been overestimated since the publication of the first polls in November 2007 (is this a technical issue? We can elaborate on this methodological point if you wish). Moreover, trying to bury Jacques Peyrat too quickly by saying that he is finished, that the people of Nice do not want him anymore, etc., has been totally counterproductive. There is a well-known compassionate phenomenon in sociology (but apparently not at Nice Matin) that was fully confirmed: the more you attack a candidate, the more you strengthen his compassionate attractiveness. Bottom line: Jacques Peyrat comes out second in this election!
Regarding Patrick Allemand’s score, it is a direct consequence of the degradation of the image and the confidence given to Nicolas Sarkozy who had carried the most hopes, now disappointed. The shift to the left in this first round at the national level shows that this election is also at least a warning given to the head of state and his declared friends (like Christian Estrosi). It is therefore quite natural to see Patrick Allemand’s score in an environment favorable to his list.
NP: Your survey caused a sensation at the time, the irony of fate wanted that you were the one who came closest to the final result?
FG: What can I say on this subject? We were accused of manipulation while our primary intention was not to say, unlike others 3 months before the first round, who would be the next mayor of Nice, but simply that the election was not yet decided. On December 4, the date we published our survey in Metro and was picked up by France 3 Méditerranée, 52% of the people from Nice, who intended to vote, had not yet chosen their candidate, and the voters were then waiting for the programs of each candidate before making a decision. Moreover, we had given the winning trifecta, we’ll put this down to luck (?).
