Francois Hollande: Hollande

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy Dept: Socialist Francois Hollande the poll favorite is more likely to benefit from the get-out-the-vote push, because conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out against Muslim practices in his campaign and experts say that Muslims in poor neighborhoods and Muslim youth tend to vote for the left. But the Muslim vote is diverse, and there s no guarantee that the push will bring out voters, since Muslims have tended in the past to avoid politics, according to Globe and Mail. Under the banner of patriotism and preserving the national identity, Mr. Sarkozy is trawling for far-right votes as he tries to undo Mr. Hollande and imams and Islamic associations are calling on Muslims to do their duty as citizens and go to the polls. And while they re not officially endorsing anyone, the call itself is a bold move in a country where statistics on religious affiliation are formally banned and where secularism is enshrined in the constitution. French Muslims have been pounded with blame throughout the campaign for what they eat halal meat , how they pray in the street , and for allegedly using their growing numbers to supplant France s civilization with their own. The massacre of Jewish schoolchildren and French paratroopers in March by an alleged Islamic extremist put Muslims in the spotlight anew and fed far-right fear mongering. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.