It is now official. Nikolas Sarkozy will be the presidential candidate for the ruling UMP party in the French Presidentielle this spring. His principal opponent is Socialist party candidate, the attractive and photogenic Ségolène Royal. Until recently, at least, it was tempting to draw a parallel between the race in France to our own upcoming presidential election in which Senator Hillary Clinton has been favored to run as the Democratic candidate against an as-yet-to-be-determined Republican male. This raises the intriguing question of whether France, the US or both will soon have a woman head of state.
As is often the case in politics, however, the sands have shifted to reveal a perhaps more intriguing parallel: that of a fresh, engaging personality virtually untested at the national level pitted against a well known, experienced politician about whom the electorate has strong feelings, both pro and con. Maybe what we will see when the dust settles is the US with its first black president and France with its first woman.
Whatever happens politically in my two favorite countries over the coming months, it is going to be very, very interesting to watch.
