The town of Lacoste, nestled in the heart of the Luberon forest massif, has earned its reputation as the most Americanized village in Vaucluse. Students, artists and tourists from across the Atlantic are year-round regulars of this picturesque little town, which has earned an international reputation as an artistic mecca under the patronage of its most loyal resident Pierre Cardin, coupled with the presence from the American art school SCAD.
And if usually, the culture, the bucolic landscapes or even the local gastronomy nourish the debates of this microcosm from the country of Uncle Sam, for a few days, it is indeed the future indirect universal suffrage for the presidency of the States -United States which animates all exchanges. Because if the election date is set for November 5, the future of the country is already being written in Provence.
As we publish this article, the presidential election has already been launched in the village, since mid-October, through postal voting adopted by 47 states of the federation out of the 50 recognized. This system allows voters to send their ballot by post or to go to the polling station early.
Voted
“A person mandated from the United States held a polling station, a few days ago, in the heart of the village, to encourage us to vote. These elections are more contested than ever and crucial as the stakes are high,” testifies Melissa Richardson, painter and designer from the state of Georgia, currently in residence in one of the village's workshops. An observation shared by Dylan
from South Carolina and student at the art school: “This could well be one of the closest elections in American history. The political climate is particularly tense, with notable events like an assassination attempt against Donald Trump, massive disinformation, the involvement of American stars and big bosses or glaring climate change with hurricanes hitting several states. There are big issues around employment, the environment or geopolitics on the table. and the positions of the candidates on these subjects diverge a lot in recent days, it is in fact our main topic of conversation between students.
Conversely, for passing tourists like James
et Ashley
a retired couple from Texas, this parenthesis in France is intended as an outlet, even an escape from all the political and media hype which animates their country around this vote. “This trip is doing us the greatest good because in the USA the debates have intensified and that's all we're talking about. That doesn't stop us, however, from following these elections from afar. Our priorities are the economy and the rights of women and on this last point we are still behind compared to other countries”, testify the vacationers. “We voted before leaving and we thought we would come to France to get away from it all, but ultimately, even here, the elections are following us,” continues, further away, this other couple from the west coast, and freshly arrived in the country of Cardin .
Deep skepticism
Finally, if the vote of American expatriates, numbering 3,000,000, has all its importance in this election (in 2000 George W. Bush had, for example, won the vote by a few hundred votes over Al Gore thanks, in particular, to in support of expatriates from the State of Florida), not everyone will necessarily play the game for this election.”Generally speaking, we note among us a deep skepticism with regard to the political system. For Donald Trump, the question of the border is his number one subject. As for Kamala Harris, it is purchasing power. But in all that, culture has no place Worse, grants to support artists will be cut, for the sake of the economy, regardless of the candidate elected. This is why this year I did not vote. protests Simon, this art school student from Alabama. “Many campaign promises are never kept. Today, it’s all communication and less concrete. Ultimately, it’s similar to France,” notes yet another artist from Georgia, based in Lacoste and who also chose not to go to the polls for this reason.The first names have been voluntarily changed, at the request of the interviewees, as the issues at stake in these elections are so divisive.
France
