Sarkozy for French President

Thoughts on the World would like to endorse Nicolas Sarkozy to be the next president of France.


Let's start with a profile of both candidates. Ségolène Royal has a lower standing in poll ratings coming in to the election, but to many, she is the more charismatic of the two candidates. She was elected as the 6th sexiest woman by French FHM. She does have a stand on the issues, and policies she plans to enforce based on her stand. Violence on TV is her biggest pet peeve; she is a big supporter of family values. Her domestic plans are her strong point, while her views on foreign policy are lacking. She appears to have few opinions on foreign affairs, and does not wholly understand the topics she does have opinions on.

Royal's disappointing foreign policy opinions are what makes her not worthy of the presidency. For example, when she met with a Hezbollah politician, she had no problem when he compared the Palestinian territories to France under Nazi occupation. A few months later, she demonstrated her confusion of what's going on in the world; after the kidnapping of two French nationals by the Taliban, she called for sanctions to be placed on regimes like the Taliban. Apparently, she doesn't understand that the Taliban no longer rules Afghanistan. Someone who doesn't understand the basic facts of the War on Terrorism should not be president of a world power.

Nicolas Sarkozy is currently leading the polls, though many in the public are undecided. He has been criticized for his work as Interior Minister during the Paris suburb riots. During the riots, he pledged to clean up the rioting areas with a "Karcher." Karcher is brand pressure cleaning appliances. He also called rioters "thugs" and "riff-raff".

While Sarkozy's record at home may not be as clean Royal's, he has a better record with foreign policy. His opinions are also expressed more clearly. He would toughen Iranian sanctions and keep a friendly relationship with the U.S. (not necessarily Bush).


Neither of these candidates is perfect, but it's what we have to choose from. Both have some not so perfect grades on their report cards, but dealing with the choices given, Nicolas Sarkozy should be the next presidential candidate. His foreign policy understanding compared with Royal’s foreign policy misunderstanding makes Sarkozy the better candidate.

UPDATE: GDAEman pointed out this comparison ;-).A comparison can be made between Royal and George Bush. Both were inexperienced with foreign policy, and others were supposed to help them out (Cheney, Rumsfeld).

UPDATE II: Sarkozy elected French president