Sarkozy Nimes last week.

“France does not belong to those who would sit back and watch its decline, to those who would silently rejoice in it…France will take up the challenges of its destiny…Our fate isn’t determined by any supposed decline, only the devastation caused by those who oppose progress…(the devastation) which weakens France, discredits the State, diverts our strength..Every Frenchman has a strong bond with France…and people feel sad, humiliated and angry when France is not achieving its full potential...”

From the BBC

“He talked about his love for France, that everyone's first duty was to love this land and to be proud of it. His wide-ranging speech pushed all the right buttons, touched on all the things any voter should be thinking about before a big election

But he was not afraid to catalogue what was wrong with his country, from public services to the economy, the schools system and even the courts. He said he wanted to convince those who were disillusioned and no longer believed in politics to have faith.

It was a speech regularly punctuated by applause as he worked the crowd, at times gesticulating to emphasise a point, speeding up his delivery, or slowing it down.

This is a man who knows how to connect with people, with voters.

He is a "great communicator" and one thing any great communicator must do is talk about the issues that really concern people.

In this regard, Mr Sarkozy is a genius”.

I was going to take a look and update on Sarko, the Cleargate ‘scandal’, Villepin and Chirac but L’Ombre de l’Oliver (being the maunderings of an Englishman on the Côte d'Azur) has already done such an amazing summary I don’t think ill attempt it! So instead ill refer you to him. Terrific read from a self confessed detester of Chirac and Villepin.

Read it all

(scroll down to Cleargate Update)
L'Ombre de l'Olivier - Shadow of the Olive Tree


There was also a piece that preceded this one which touched more on the Nimes speech and his remarks about exposing the Cleargate plotters but I unfortunately cant seem to locate it as he has written so much since. He certainly likes to write! I also recall a mention of Sarkos Hungarian roots…

’a Hungarian is someone who will enter a revolving door behind you and come out ahead of you.’
L’Ombre:

“…, the key point here is that Sarko is doing something that no other French minister seems to be doing - work - and while the chattering classes may disagree with what he proposes I think it is fairly sure that a large chunk of voters do agree and that particularly includes a whole load of potential FN voters”.

The FN are third still in the polls behind Sarkozy and Royal.

L’Ombre continues:

“So by proposing these changes, even if they end up being rejected, Sarko gets to steal the thunder of Le Pen and hence probably a lot of his support. If he can get an election in the near future while the socialists are still faffing around, Le Pen losing support and no other credible centre-right candidate on the horizon he ought to be a sure victor. The only question will be whether he can fit the election in before everyone goes off on their summer hols”

What I wouldn’t do for a British Sarkozy, lol. Even if he doesn’t make it next year his influence on French politics will be huge.

****Add on from l'Olivier who directed me to the archive post i wanted (thanks!)****

rest here


"...the Clearstream affair in its discussion of his recent Nimes speech (which was damn good and really resonated):

He launched a scathing attack on political leaders over the last three decades, blaming their aversion to reform for fuelling "this France of the 'No'".

He said last month's street protests against a contentious youth labour law reflected the same "anxiety and lost hope" as the No vote in last year's referendum on Europe's constitutional treaty and the shock second-place finish by extreme right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the 2002 election.

Much of his speech stressed the need to rebuild French pride and reach out to voters of the anti-immigration National Front.

"It is staggering to see how politically correct thinking has let the extreme right get a monopoly on using the word homeland," he said.

He also took a swipe at France's first ever slavery day, launched by Mr Chirac yesterday. "France has caused suffering, but she never gave birth to Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot," he said. "Making slavery the only face of France is to tar with the same brush all who did not practise it or stood up against it."

Mr Sarkozy's ability to pillory the political elite and its lack of vision, in spite of being one of its members for years, is a delicate balancing act that has become a central theme of his presidential campaign.

What the FT does not mention is that Sarko is indeed an outsider to the French elites in many ways. He is not an énarque, unlike just about every other major political figure in France, his father immigrated from Hungary - and you can tell; the joking definition "A Hungarian is a man who can enter a revolving door after you, but emerge before you" absolutely applies to Nick the Gnome - and he lacks the sort of mutual back-scratching ties to journalists that other politicians have - witness the media firestorm about his "scum" comment"

The UK needs a Sarkozy. Lucky France.