French set to usher in new era, but which one?
They head to polls Sunday in the first round of a historic presidential election.
from the April 20, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
"The candidates are all in their 50s, bring a new style of politics ... but we don't know what they will do," argues Arun Kapil, a political science professor at the American University in Paris. "No major issue has dominated the campaign and foreign policy and Europe have been absent. Neither Mr. Sarkozy nor [Socialist Ségolène] Ms. Royal speaks fluent English; if either is elected president, that would be a first for modern France."
Sarkozy: Tough-talking & energetic
Only three candidates appear able to win both rounds. Sarkozy is the boldest. A former interior minister, Sarkozy is going to "put France back to work," is promising root-and-branch economic change, and law and order in the suburbs. His energetic style convinces many French he is strong and clever enough to do so. He is deeply hated on the left and among minorities as an illiberal opportunist who will exacerbate social tensions. Polls show him 4-5 points ahead of Royal.
Royal: 'Tony Blair of France'
Ms. Royal promises change, but inside the old model. Put simply, she's going to do better with what France already has. Hints that she will be a modernizer, a "Tony Blair of France," scare the hard left in her party. Royal would be France's first woman president. Pundits say she must score well among working-class voters to win in Round I. Critics call her inexperienced and incapable of busting France out of its encrusted welfare state. But many French see her as a force for social harmony.
Bayrou: Aims to unite French divide
Then there is François Bayrou. This spring, as Royal and Sarkozy defined a stark choice between a more efficient socialism and free-market liberation, the professorial former sheep farmer presented himself as the great alchemist, able to unify France. Mr. Bayrou would mix the best policies of right and left, and bridge France's mammoth political divide. Sarkozy may fear him the most.
Yet whether Bayrou, whose Union for French Democracy party is small, can unify France's left and right or reform its thick administration, is in doubt. Former Socialist foreign minister Hubert Vedrine told reporters it is "too difficult" for a small party politician to manage.
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