Royal and Sarkozy Go to the Mat

What did the Frenchman on the street think of the debate between the presidential hopefuls? Both sides think their candidate was the winner

by Stefan Simons

From trenchant to gallant, venomous to polite, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal slogged through a two-hour TV duel on Wednesday. So who won?

A handful of guests have joined a Parisian advertising executive in his apartment to watch the TV debate between presidential candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal -- lawyers, a salesman, a diplomat. It is certainly not a demographically representative cross section, the group is politically left-leaning, reflective of the area between the St. Lazare train station and the nightclub district Montmartre. Expectations are running high: "Royal has to convince the audience with substance," the group agrees, "Sarkozy with his personality."

With that, the bar has been raised pretty high. Sarkozy, the candidate of the conservative UMP party, is considered a carping and sometimes even unrestrained or aggressive politician. Socialist candidate Royal, for her part, has repeatedly had to endure accusations of incompetence -- particularly in foreign policy -- in recent months.

At 9:00 p.m., the gong sounds for round one. Sarkozy begins with polite chit-chat -- and speaks as an activist: "I want to be a president of responsibility," he says, and vows to secure greater power for the parliament. Madame Royal opts for confrontation from the get go. She looks back at the Chirac era and lists its shortcomings: crime, unemployment, price increases and a giant national debt.

"Am I responsible for the government? Yes," says Sarkozy, and begins to speak about the balance of his achievements as interior minister -- giving himself good marks in comparison with the last time the Socialists were in office in the 1980s and early 90s. When it comes to debt, he appeals to "common sense," arguing that spending has to be cut and the number of public servants reduced.

Madame Royal replies in the same way that she will for the entire two hours to come -- with an example from real life. Her strength lies in the way she argues. She talks about a policewoman raped in a Parisian suburb; talks about job cuts for nurses and teachers. "I won't cut jobs in the public sector," the Socialist candidate says -- only to face the retort that, in parliament, the Socialists voted against raising the budget for security.

A ROYAL ADVANTAGE
Then Sarkozy's arguments become technical and detailed. He recites statistics on the recidivism of convicted criminals and says the jobs of customs officers should be cut, as they have become superfluous. And then he plays his first trump card, stating that, in his view, the 35 hour week -- a key component of Socialist reforms -- is to blame for the country's general misery. Royal parries the blow: "Why didn't you push through the reform on criminal recidivism? You were the interior minister for five years." That was the first round. Advantage: Royal.

With the presidential elections four days away, the political and personal future of both candidates is at stake -- even if Sarkozy, who has been leading in the polls since January, has entered the TV studios of Boulogne-Billancourt as the odds-on favorite.

"If you address all the issues at the same time, the debate will become superficial," he jeers now. Then the debate transforms into the political equivalent of hand-to-hand combat. At issue is the redistribution of positions and functions within the public sector. Sarkozy talks about budget issues while Royal demands the redistribution of national and regional responsibilities. And then she brings up her favorite topic: "work for youth" -- 500,000 jobs for those entering the job market, and "it works," Royal avers triumphantly, citing experiences in her region.

SARKOZY PARRIES
Nothing is left to chance during this debate -- neither the futurist decor of the studio, nor the angles of the 12 hidden cameras or the placement of the two presenters, Arlette Chabot from the public TV channel "France 2" and Patrick Poivre d'Avor from the private channel "TF1." Boy, girl, boy, girl. Two meters of solid wood separate the two candidates.