France's presidential duel has been opened up by François Hollande's triple threat
For weeks the French presidential campaign looked rather dull, predictable and parochial. It still is parochial – except when vilifying globilisation, no candidate seems to be aware that the outside world exists, not even Europe and its economic woes. But the outcome no longer seems so predictable: less than three weeks away from the first round of the election, Nicolas Sarkozy is ahead in the polls and the Socialist candidate François Hollande has had to face unexpected threats.
At the beginning it looked simple enough. A clear winner of his party's primaries, Hollande just had to surf the massive wave of resentment against President Sarkozy rising from across the spectrum of French public opinion.… Seguir leyendo »