Royally Screwed by a Solid Sarkozy

I've been following the French elections with only a mild interest. It's nice that unlike here, they actually have a more lively democracy; in my opinion, the choices were between a left, center and center-right President. Granted, they do ultimately narrow it down to a 2 party primary, but it's still much more choice than we're seeing here, what with center-right vs center-further-right.

Anyway, François Bayrou, the centerist, was knocked out, leaving Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy. By most estimates, Sarkozy has pretty much got it won.

The Times (via the Australian) say that a TV debate is Royal's last chance.

It's too bad, then, that the Frenchman whom I chatted to about this was adament that Royal's biggest flaw is her unconvincing, witless public speaking.

Incidently, as the article says, "65 per cent found Mr Sarkozy "solid” while only 24 per cent attributed the quality to Ms Royal."