DB's Pixnet

Time April 2, 2012
Page 38
French Toast?
Polls suggest Nicholas Sarkozy may lose France's presidency. How a globally respected statesman found himself on the verge of defeat at home.
By Bruce Crumley /Paris

...Voters are also put off by Sarkozy's reputation as "the President of the rich," a moniker first inspired by a round of tax cuts in 2007 that mostly benefited the wealthy. Sarkozy's unabashed fondness for money and his friendships with some of France's wealthiest people have solidified his image as the king of bling. So too has his posh life with his third wife, former model and millionaire Carla Bruni, who this month drew titters for defending her husband's taste for luxury, assuring a journalist, "We're modest people."

...In 2007, voters flocked to the uncompromising commitment and supreme confidence of Sarkozy, who promised a modernized French presidency. His stubborn intransigence struck many as refreshing after 12 years of flip-flopping stasis under his predecessor Jacques Chirac. His single-mindedness was also key to Sarkozy's two successful stints as Frances's Interior Minister, during which he vowed to purge troubled housing projects...

...That message echoed Sarkozy's earlier promise to slash immigration to France because "we have too many foreigners."...

David CK Chang, SSN057-86-4042,
April 8, 2012,
New Taipei City Library,
Panchiao, New Taipei City