Sarkozy’s amazing loss of support

President Nicholas Sarkozy of France has suffered an unprecedentedly steep decline in his popularity since August of last year. When he entered office last May, 65 percent of the French people approved of him, climbing to 69 percent in August. His approval rate is now 28 percent, a drop of 41 percent in eight months, and with no particular disaster having occurred in French politics. Tiberge at Galliawatch quotes a French report which explains the reversal of fortune thus:

For Stephane Rozes of CSA, the brutal fall of Nicolas Sarkozy, perceptible since January, is due to the “juncture of two factors: excessive publicity over his private life which diminishes the value of the presidency, and the impression that he is far from his promise to make increased buying power the reward for hard work and merit.”

Indeed, according to the chart posted by Tiberge, the steepest drop has occurred since the beginning of Sarkozy’s relationship and marriage to actress, model, and veteran star-lover Carla Bruni—19 points over a period of three months. Sarkozy is not the first political leader to marry an actress and loose woman while in office. There was, most famously, the marriage of the emperor-designate Justinian to Theodora. But at least Theodora had changed her way of life before she met Justinian. Perhaps the French are not as tolerant in these matters as we thought.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 27, 2008 11:10 PM | Send