Segolene RoyalFrench politics has its downsides – the domination of an ENA-educated elite being the principal among them – but la politique à la française has normally managed to avoid the more vulgar approach typified in the UK and especially the USA. Not so for the 2007 Presidential election it seems. First of all, Nicolas Sarkozy wrote a book that became a best seller, talking about his private life and his marital difficulties [BBC here]. Then Socialist presidential hopeful Segolene Royal did not use France’s strict privacy laws after a magazine printed pictures of her on a beach [CNN here]. And now today the BBC is reporting here that Sarkozy’s party, the UMP, is distributing condoms and flipflops to people on French beaches, encouraging them to have a good time. The flipflops apparently leave a UMP footprint in the sand. If people do use these condoms, I suppose it gives new meaning to the phrase Nicolas Sarkozy me protege…

2 Comments

  1. Genius. I love the sandals idea. Going to be an interesting one to watch methinks.

  2. Noooooooooo! urgh. Still, I guess he’s trying to leave a trace which is more than Chirac will have done in 12 years in office.

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