"That dwarf"

Dominique de Villepin on his rival Nicholas Sarkozy:

He's the man Mr de Villepin is known to refer to in private as "that dwarf".

The whole article is worth reading in full. It details just how de Villepin has ended up on trial for slandering his one time rival for the Presidency. And it hints at the level of animosity there must have been (and no doubt still is) between these two figures.

Of course, this sort of behaviour isn't limited to France. Our own "beloved" Prime Minister has no issue with burying his rivals beneath a veritable shit storm of innuendo and smears. What is missing from this country, though, is the little asides like one potential President calling another "that dwarf". I would love to know what Brown has called David Miliband or Harriet Harman behind their backs. I suspect it would make Mr de Villepin's comments look positively tame...

Jeez.

Sarkozy wins the election, giving him a mandate to desperately try to turnaround the stagnant, failing economy. To offer a practical, rational response to France's problems for the first time in years. He wins both rounds of the election, having led the polls throughout the contest. And how does the defeated left respond?

Rioting.

And who said socialists were undemocratic, violent, bad losers?

It is not a beauty contest...

...which is just as well for Sarkozy otherwise he would lose - badly:

Now French Politics is not of massive interest to me. There is enough going on in US and UK politics to keep me occupied. When I was studying politics at uni, French politics was one of my least favourite subjects (or "modules", as the fashionable term was back then). I always lose track of which republic they are on (I think it is fifth but it could be sixth). But from the research I have been doing and the conversations I have had, it does seem like France is at a critical turning point. It stretches credibility slightly, but there are links between France today and Britain in 1979.

And, just as they did with Merkel in Germany, people are looking for the Thatcherite figure to come to power and turn the country around. And they seem to have found that figure in Royal. But when you actually cut through all the bullshit, the honest truth is the only way you could call Royal Thatcherite is because of her sex. But Thatcher was successful because of her policies and determination to see those policies through, not because of her gender. And whilst Royal has paid lip service to some radical reform in France (such as attacking the 35 hour working week) she remains, fundamentally, a socialist. And that is proper, old school socialist - no the Nu Labour socilaist lite model we have in this country. All a socialist President will do is further increase the problems of France, and further cripple an already stagnant country.

Which is why Sarkozy - for all his flaws and headline grabbing comments - is the best option for France. If he acts on his electoral rhetoric (always difficult for our elected politicians but you never know) then he could do a great deal of good for France. France needs to move away from the stagnant leadership of Chirac, but not into the arms of an utterly discredited political ideology. Sarkozy will have a lot to prove if he makes it into office, but I think the chances of him making a difference are far greater than Royal make a positive difference.