What is at stake is less the election’s outcome than the margin between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the far-right National Front leader, Marine Le Pen – and whether she overtakes him to qualify for the second-round run-off against the Socialist candidate. While she would be unlikely to win the presidency, she could reshape and realign the French right.
真正使法国总统萨科奇处于危险的并不是总统选举的结果，而是他和极右派民族阵线领导人勒庞之间的隔阂，以及是否她会代替萨科奇参加第二轮对抗社会主义代表的决定性竞选。尽管她可能赢得不了总统大选，但她可以重组、重新联盟法国右派势力。由于这个原因，如果萨科奇的惨败，会大幅削减其社会主义党派继任者在欧洲政策制定上的发言权，从而在根本上得改变了法国在欧洲的地位。