A Casual Eye Toward French Politics

The French Presidency will be decided in two weeks after the initial balloting produced no clear winner. The run-off will be a showdown between the top two candidates: Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal. Royal is the Socialist candidate and Sarkozy represents the center-right party called the "Union for a Popular Movement" - UMP.

Apparently, this particular election has real potential significance for the future direction of France. How so? The BBC (not exactly part the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy) reports on the coming showdown. But this quote pretty much says it all:

Mr Sarkozy is hated by the left as a reformer who many fear would change the French way of life by making the nation work harder and longer and by cutting back on its generous welfare state.