Style and Vision Close Out French Campaign
from the NY Times
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: April 20, 2007
PARIS, April 19 — Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate and front-runner for president, evoked his immigrant roots and quoted Martin Luther King Jr.
Ségolène Royal, the Socialist, pledged to usher in 21st-century-style Socialism and never to kneel before President Bush.
François Bayrou, the centrist, declared that he loved France more than he loved power.
And Jean-Marie Le Pen, the head of the ultra-right National Front, branded all three of his main opponents worthless hypocrites.
Fanning out to the far corners of France, all but one of the dozen French presidential candidates held their final major campaign rallies on Thursday night, offering starkly different personal styles and visions for governing.
Every uttering, every nuance could be crucial. With the official end of the campaign on Friday and three days to go before the first round of voting, the French election is wrapped in tension and suspense, as the candidates — from the far left to the far right — struggle to win over the huge swath of voters who still declare themselves undecided or wavering.
The unpredictability of the race was captured in a CSA poll to be published on Friday that shows Ms. Royal closing in on Mr. Sarkozy. Twenty-six percent of 1,002 registered voters polled this week said they intended to vote for Ms. Royal in the first round, compared with 27 percent for Mr. Sarkozy. The two candidates are running even in a hypothetical runoff, according to the poll.
for the full story, go to
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/world/europe/20france.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fFrance&oref=slogin
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: April 20, 2007
PARIS, April 19 — Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate and front-runner for president, evoked his immigrant roots and quoted Martin Luther King Jr.
Ségolène Royal, the Socialist, pledged to usher in 21st-century-style Socialism and never to kneel before President Bush.
François Bayrou, the centrist, declared that he loved France more than he loved power.
And Jean-Marie Le Pen, the head of the ultra-right National Front, branded all three of his main opponents worthless hypocrites.
Fanning out to the far corners of France, all but one of the dozen French presidential candidates held their final major campaign rallies on Thursday night, offering starkly different personal styles and visions for governing.
Every uttering, every nuance could be crucial. With the official end of the campaign on Friday and three days to go before the first round of voting, the French election is wrapped in tension and suspense, as the candidates — from the far left to the far right — struggle to win over the huge swath of voters who still declare themselves undecided or wavering.
The unpredictability of the race was captured in a CSA poll to be published on Friday that shows Ms. Royal closing in on Mr. Sarkozy. Twenty-six percent of 1,002 registered voters polled this week said they intended to vote for Ms. Royal in the first round, compared with 27 percent for Mr. Sarkozy. The two candidates are running even in a hypothetical runoff, according to the poll.
for the full story, go to
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/world/europe/20france.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fFrance&oref=slogin
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