[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by Aj_

Isn't that always the way? Aren't the majority of Americans voting for a party through habit not policy, and nothing could happen to change their vote?

Yes, but this is different:
-It's about choosing parties and/or representatives.
-The parties have different 'values' they represent and in different areas it's just a tradition thingy (or in families) (there isn't any tradition in voting for the EU constitution).
-This affects more countries.
-They are Americans.

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by Ninth

So, what do you guys think?

I think the result was good for you (the french people) and good for Europe. EU as anything other than a trade agreement is a bad idea, and I'm glad my country isn't a part of that organization (though I have no illusions about where things are headed, and I'm sure we will fall too, probably within the next ten years).

[pinkgothic]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

-This affects more countries.

You think? (Couldn't resist, sorry. )

[pinkgothic]

Coincidentially, I'm not only for a EU constitution, but also for a, in the far future, unified europe. But that's me and I don't expect people to agree. As usual with real life, there's downsides to everything.

Oh, and click me.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by pinkgothic

Coincidentially, I'm not only for a EU constitution, but also for a, in the far future, unified europe.

Agreed.

[AFGNCAAP]

I've always considered unified Europe a touching idea in itself, too. But - though I'm sure it varies from country to country - I have to agree with Catbert's point of view here:

Every single damn politician in Europe talks about it and how great it is, but they forget to TELL WHAT THE **** IT IS.

Well, almost agree - actually, there is quite a vocal group of EU opponents among our politicians here. But still, neither them nor their pro-European counterparts care to evaluate what does the constitution, this very constitution we are supposed to vote for/against*, contain. On top of that, we have this ludicrous mindset of not having known in advance what to do if one or more of the countries do what France and Netherlands just did. Isn't that rather idiotic? Doesn't that make the act of voting even more pointless? - I mean, even if I had made the decision by thoroughly studying myriads of pages of the proposed act, I wouldn't have known what my "Yes" or "No" means until big political figures interpret the poll results accordingly?

To sum up, I'm afraid if I had to vote tomorrow, I'd show my opinion simply by staying at home.

*In 2003 referendum (on Poland joining the Union), even if the amount of available information wasn't higher (and, as a matter of fact, it was), one could pretend the voting was about the sole idea of integration. This time it's different: the citizens are supposed to voice their opinion on a very specific step along the way to integration.