The voters' dilemma
Ségolène Royal is a woman who not only talks in clichés, but thinks in them. The slogans flow like tepid bathwater – "opportunity for all", "a better future", "removing the walls that divide us" – but the observer is no wiser as to what, if anything, would change were Miss Royal, now the candidate of the French socialists, to win. Much the same could be said of her likely opponent, Nicolas Sarkozy. Both talk a lot about "reform", while veering carefully away from specific commitments. Understandably, many French voters are reaching the conclusion that, whomever they vote for, nothing much will change: "bonnet blanc ou blanc bonnet," as they say across the Channel.
The two main parties argue like Lilliputians over a tiny patch of ground, leaving Jean-Marie Le Pen to range over the great tracts that they have abandoned. For the far-Right leader is the undoubted beneficiary of their convergence.
Nor is this tendency confined to France. Across Europe, voters are left cold by the interchangeable politicians of the established parties. Sometimes they vote for fringe figures, such as Holland's Pim Fortuyn. More often they stay at home: turnout is plummeting in almost every EU country.
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