French Elections 2007 Welcome To My Blogroll!!

The blog post below attracted the attention of Boz of the site: "French Élection 2007 - A French election from an American perspective. " He's done an impressive job with his site and is following the French process closely. I think I might detect a slight bias for the Socialist Party candidate, which, if it exists, is not the slightest bit over-bearing. There's a button labelled "dummies" for people who think that all elections are just like ours in the U.S. That was my most appreciated spot! He's a welcome addition to my blogroll, and I'll be back to see the site often. Apparently there is a televised q & a session featuring candidate Royal that she's counting on to rebuild support for her campaign.
His article today is "Do they know what they're getting into?" Boz links a uk timesonline article revealing the feelings of guilt national leaders must face for devoting so much time to governance that their families suffer.

The British paper The Sunday Times is running a quite disturbing article on the private life of the Chirac family, and how his rise to power affected his daughters and wife, complete with affairs, mental illness, and suicide.

The psychology of successful leadership would make a fascinating study. I left this comment with him:

No, they don't know. One of the most frustrating qualities of a good leader is the necessity to wear blinders. They make a decision and can't look back or re-visit - their focus is implementing the plan. They believe honestly that they are born with a purpose, and as you point out, believing sometimes makes it so. Unfortunately, the focus requires that there are areas outside that don't get nearly the attention they deserve. All that said, I think they can be way too hard on themselves. Would Chirac's life have been less chaotic if he'd been shunted away from politics? Chidren turn out "wrong" even if brought up with loving caring and intelligent parenting.
Thanks for your comment at rcb- I've blogrolled you so I'll be back. Very timely stuff, and especially glad you thought of us "dummies" - very useful!

rob

And his response:

rcb, I agree with the whole "born with a purpose", especially with Nicolas Sarkozy. He has been running for president literally since 20.
I don't know if your going to enter the American political fray over the next few years as our campaign gets underway, but this French election is a great preview: same issues, same fears about immigration and globalization. I would advise Hillary and McCain to watch closely.