To be elected President of France, one needs more than charisma, a good program, and a strong political party. One also must avoid the fragmentation that doomed the left in 2002, when none of its six candidates qualified for the second round, leaving Jacques Chirac, who had received 19% of the vote in the first round – a record low for a final winner ­– to defeat Jean-Marie Le Pen in the runoff with 82% of the vote.