Segolene Royal shakes up politics as usual

The Belgian essayist Gilles Dal asked himself why French socialist Segolene Royal is leading all the opinion polls a year before the French presidential election. "The uncontested champion of the right, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been a familiar face for several years now ... the archetypal man of the right, summed up in a few distinctive traits: a penchant for individual responsibility, reward based on merit, unyielding punishment for offenders, etc. Segolene Royal, for her part, corresponds to very few of the cliches associated with leftist women. To be sure, she affirms that her platform will be socialist, but at the same time, she makes pronouncements - especially on a military-style supervisory regime for delinquents - that would not seem out of place coming from the mouths of staunch rightists. In this, Segolene Royal produces a subtle message that blends radical elements with nebulousness. ... Segolene Royal covers her tracks, and, in doing so, raises the stakes in the political game."     

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