At the same time, Sarkozy has been able to emerge as the natural leader of the right partly because Chirac has been less of a liability than many people, including the experts, predicted. Indeed, the reverse seems to be true, which perhaps reflects the tendency of French voters to adopt a positive view of departing presidents.
与此同时，由于希拉克并不如许多人、包括专家所料是累赘，因而萨尔科奇还成为该党自然的领导人。确实，看起来恰恰相反，希拉克还有所帮助。这可能反映出法国选民趋向于对行将离任的总统持有正面观点。