But the apathy of one-time Sarkozy voters helped above all the Socialist Party and Europe Ecologie, its main partner, which chalked up handsome victories.
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But their transition from apathy to aggression was observed by aid workers among the recovering hungry of Europe.
Mr Hollings's team point to the obvious logic: mid-term elections are normally cloaked with apathy, but if voters are energised to turn out to support Jim Hodges, then by party association they will surely be tempted to vote for Fritz Hollings too.
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But she cautioned that any analysis of political apathy needed to make clear that "people do get involved more in politics as they get older".
New Labour had promised a new type of politics, but seems to be greeted by more of the old apathy.
Such apathy is often put down to tiredness, but a study published recently in Psychological Science suggests there may be more to it than that.
Some observers had expected a low registration of voters because of apathy following the 2007-08 violence, but campaigns by Kenyatta, Odinga and other presidential candidates led to the highest registration in the country ever.
These are both, doubtless, worthy subjects, but these Thursday afternoon debates are regularly falling victim to galloping apathy, and collapsing early.
But the more I asked around, the more I encountered a pervasive apathy about the contest.
Fear may push people to action, but this approach is not sustainable and ultimately leads to either burnout or extreme apathy.
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New Yorkers rejected it this week by a two-to-one margin, but the idea is gathering support elsewhere as a possible cure for political ailments ranging from voter apathy to partisanship.
But in a speech earlier this month, the new Policing Minister Damian Green hinted at government concern about voter apathy.
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In a humiliating blow to the once proud, gas-guzzling Hummer SUV, engineers at GM have re-imagined the poster child for environmental apathy as a completely green vehicle that not only leaves a small "footprint" in its wake, but actually promises to give something back to nature as well.
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