Friday, April 27, 2007

The Bogeyman

Since Wednesday, the focus of the French presidential campaign has been a proposed debate between Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal and centrist non-candidate François Bayrou. At stake was the chance for Royal to win over Bayrou's first-round voters, with or without his explicit endorsement. Twice yesterday the debate was scheduled, first before a meeting with the French regional press and later on Canal+, only to be twice cancelled by the news media involved, citing France's strict "equal airtime" election rules.

Rumors and accusations of behind the scenes pressure have been swirling since, and this morning, both the Socialists and Bayrou directly accused Nicolas Sarkozy of exerting his influence to have the debate cancelled. Asked in a radio interview this morning whether he believed Canal+ had acted at Sarkozy's request, Bayrou didn't mince his words:

"I don't have proof, but I am certain," replied Mr. Bayrou...

..."Through a network of powerful financial and media interests that surround Nicolas Sarkozy, the editorial boards and networks are directly leaned upon in such a way that the news is locked up," he said, citing "numerous accounts."

"We're choosing a regressive path that challenges the elementary right of the French to be informed. Consider that Nicolas Sarkozy isn't elected yet. What will happen if he is?" he continued. [Translated from the French.]

Now there are two stories here. The first is that despite having lost the first-round runoff, François Bayrou has managed to insinuate himself into the very forefront of the second-round campaign, something that only stands to increase his legitimacy and solidify his position.

The second (and perhaps more immediately significant) is that the entire episode has given Ségolène Royal the opportunity, through both her Socialist proxies and Bayrou's complicity, to emphasize the very qualities that most opponents of Nicolas Sarkozy find most frightening, and that he himself was trying hard to soften: "His taste for intimdation and threats," as Bayrou himself put it so well.

Only yesterday it seemed like Royal would have some trouble balancing the demands of the extreme left with her need to court the center. But since a significant part of her second-round support is in fact an anti-Sarkozy vote, the sudden reappearance of "Sarko the Facho" (Fascist Sarko) is a jackpot.

Posted by Judah in:  La Presidentielle   

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