Trio Of French Elections Articles

Up first is a BBc profile of Nicolas Sarkozy. I'm certainly no expert on any european politics, and my interest is less than "passionate," but still it does rouse my curiosity because the American left seems to view them as the road we should be on.
Sarkozy is of the same "center-right" political party as current president Jacues Chirac, though the two suffered a falling out several years ago. This article begins with controversial immigration comments regarding muslim youths and unemployment - the 9% rate would be intolerable in the U.S. but apparently thought of as evidence of a lively economy in socialist France.

Even those on the left in France admit Mr Sarkozy is a formidable political force.
He has shown strong protectionist instincts - pouring state funds into saving the ailing French company Alstom. Yet he also promises to make the French less scared of economic success.
He is often described as an Atlanticist, but he too was against the war in Iraq. He is not too keen on the old Franco-German alliance - but upset new EU members by saying those with lower taxes than old Europe should not receive EU subsidies.

Interesting way to put it, don't you think? "...promises to make the French less scared of economic success." Most of what I see suggests Sarkozy will be the next President of France. His opponent on the left, Segolene Royal, is showing some rookie errors.

One by one, several French writers and intellectuals are making the startling confessions. After decades as committed leftists, they are defecting to the right — many saying they've lost faith in Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal.With just 10 weeks to go until the election's first round, Royal still has no platform. She has made gaffes on international affairs, and her popularity with intellectuals and ordinary voters alike has slipped, leaving conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy at the top of the polls.

And so, as the Aussie TheAge puts it, are the French battle lines drawn . This has all the tense anticipation of any American cycle I've witnessed! This is a excellent summary of the main party candidate choices available to the average French voter. They seem to know change is necessary, but who can know who best to trust to usher them in?

The paradoxes of Mr Sarkozy are central to the campaign because they are in part the paradoxes of France. If he wins, as the polls predict, will he make a "rupture" with 30 years of French policy, as he promises to do? Will his election or that of his main opponent, the Socialist Party's Segolene Royal, be a moment of change or simply the survival of the status quo under a new name?
...
Ms Royal would be France's first female leader; Mr Sarkozy the first president with an immigrant parent (his father was Hungarian). When Ms Royal decided to run she had no networks or allies in her own party. The old men who led it — known as "the elephants" — didn't respect her. But voters seemed to like her idea of listening, embodied in her interactive Desires for the Future website and 6000 town meetings run by her team. Unpredictably, she embraced some conservative ideas, such as boot camps for young offenders. The media loved her.

Well now, "fickle" isn't just the American media?