A Politically Dangerous Liaison for France’s President is about French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s relationship with former supermodel turned singer Carla Bruni, and how the public is reacting to it. The French public is in fact very critical of Mr. Sarkozy whom according to Le Journal du Dimanche is scheduled to marry Ms. Bruni next month. Many people feel that Mr. Sarkozy is paying more attention to Ms. Bruni then he is to being president. Many citizens, especially those struggling economically, are irritated by Mr. Sarkozy’s extravagant lifestyle. An article in the French paper said “The French people did not elect him to be a rock star”. According to a group called CSA only 48% of people trusted Mr. Sarkozy to run the country, this was a seven point fall from last month, and since July the presidents’ approval rating has fallen by seventeen points.
In A Politically Dangerous Liaison for France’s President Elaine Sciolino does a good job of speaking for the French public. However Ms. Sciolino leans strongly on the idea that Mr. Sarkozy’s unpopularity has been caused only by his relationship with Ms. Bruni. She offers no other explanation for the public’s dislike of their president although there may be others such as Frances lackluster economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/world/europe/08france.html?_r=1&ref=europe&oref=slogin
January 10, 2008 at 7:51 pm |
This is an interesting topic for debate. One one hand, a public cannot expect their ruler to have no sort of personal life what so ever. On the other hand, it is a serious problem when a rulers’ personal life affects their ability to govern their country properly.
January 10, 2008 at 11:27 pm |
One one hand, the French President should be respected for such righteousness. Getting with even an ex-supermodel is a hard thing to do if you’re a man with his looks.
On the other hand; however, he should be strongly reminded that he is the President of a major (G8) country, and he must be able to attain at least more that half the people’s approval rating. If indeed his personal life is getting in the way with his presidency, then maybe, he should let his wife go or not pay that much attention to her, and let some other worthy bachelor try for her love.
The final point that I will make: A country cannot function when a leader isn’t up for the job. From Jukie’s post, Sarkozy’s job is a “rock star”, according to the population- Not taking anything away from rock stars, they at least make music.
January 11, 2008 at 1:06 am |
I think that Ethan makes a good point that the French population cannot expect their president to have no social life. I think that he should be able to have a social life, but not one that interferes with his ability to run the country. The job comes with a lot of responsibility, and I’m sure it can be difficult. It seems like this situation could cause political unrest in France because the French do not think their president is putting enough time and energy in to leading France. The reaction of the people to Sarkozy’s extravagant lifestyle might cause him to change his ways a little.
January 12, 2008 at 11:24 pm |
I think that the French population is responding to the fact that Bruni has no experience in diplomacy or politics. Their marriage is more of a spectacle, yet this is mostly due to the media’s take on their relationship rather than her profession. It is expected that the media would equate his popularity with his marriage choice rather than his political decisions thus far.
January 13, 2008 at 4:06 am |
I understand the viewpoints of my peers. However, does the relationship actually affect the governing ability of the President? If his marriage distracts him from making important decisions then I support the French people. Currently, I feel that the media’s focus is simply being used to further soil Mr. Sarkozy’s political reputation.
January 15, 2008 at 12:56 am |
This is very interesting because, in general, people in France are not very concerned with politicians’ social lives. For example, when Sarkozy was first elected, he and his wife divorced–something that is not regarded as a big deal in France but seems to be very important in our society. I wonder if he has actually been lacking in his duties as president, or if people are just upset about his marriage. If not, I agree that he should be allowed to have his own personal life without people judging him.
January 17, 2008 at 12:59 am |
It’s wierd for American standards for a president to have much interest in the opposite sex while in office, (except for the case of Bill Clinton a la Monica Lewinsky), but I don’t see why the people of France are getting on his case about finding a woman that he wants to engage with and possibly marry. He’s a man, so let him settle with a woman after his not so pretty divorce. It’s not like France is in as deep of a hole as we are in regards to a war that will seemingly to never end. Let him do his thing, and then he will get to work and his ratings will slowly rise again. What he probably needs is an ugly wakeup call to put him in check so that he doesn’t fall too far out of line. Maybe some urgent catastrophe to get him out of lala land. Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t stress it.