Sarkozy's Honeymoon: Fini! - by Bruce Crumley
Though beautiful while it lasted, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's honeymoon with a formerly adoring French public that elected him just eight months ago has definitely come to an end. The only question is what deserves the most credit for his precipitous drop in the polls: disappointment in his policies and plans for economic reform, or growing disenchantment with his tabloid-friendly love life.Yet it's the political fallout that has Sarkozy's conservative allies more worried. With nationwide municipal elections just five weeks away, conservative candidates fear a possible leftist rout in cities across France, as voters signal their displeasure with Sarkozy's national leadership. Signs of Sarkozy's falling fortunes were starkly apparent on Thursday, when three of the nation's newsweeklies hit kiosks with critical Sarkozy-focused cover stories.
Conservative legislators and mayoral candidates worry that the small-business owners most affected by the proposed reforms — historically stalwart UMP voters — are likely to join the rising tide of displeasure at the municipal polls next month. That prospect of appears to have caused Sarkozy to blink; on Wednesday, leaders of protesting taxi drivers were called to the Elyse and assured the deregulation plans had been shelved. And despite Sarkozy's avowal in December that state "coffers are empty," the presidency also announced new handouts for retirees receiving minimal pensions — a demographic pollsters count among the largest defectors in Sarkozy's approval slide. Whether all that is enough to protect conservatives from an election mauling will be seen in March.
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