It is not so much Sarkozy’s performance as president that most Frenchmen reject; it is his essence. At a time of rising unemployment, with France dominated by fears about the future, the French need a reassuring father or mother figure, not a jittery and manipulative leaderready to compromise ethics and France’s proud tradition that every citizen is entitled to equal treatment under the law.
萨科齐任总统期间的大多数表演都不会被法国大众所排斥，这就是他的本质。在这个失业率上升，整个法国都被恐惧笼罩着的时期，法国人需要的是一个能像父母般带来安慰的角色，而不是一个神经质且富有统治欲的领袖，连放弃道德以及法国人引以为荣的传统——法律面前，公民平等——都在所不惜。