The French electorate rallies to Jack and Monsieur 1% soars into the dizzying heights of 37%.

FRENCH PRESIDENT'S POPULARITY BACK ON THE RISE

PARIS January 8, 2006 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac's popularity has risen to 37 percent after enduring a bruising year in which his compatriots rejected the European constitution and rioting flared in poor immigrant suburbs, a new poll has found. [Jack] benefits from a three-point increase in his approval rating since December, according to the LH2 survey for the left-leaning newspaper Libération and i-TELE to be published Monday. The telephone survey of 1,000 people on January 6 and 7 suggested Chirac's popularity has increased 11 points since June last year...

One can sense the delighted excitement of the AFP in its strong positive reporting of Jack's weak dismal numbers. Of course a hop in a poll that does not exceed the poll's margin of error is not much of a hop at all. Sampled polls may be indicative but are shifting and nonbinding. The only polls that matter are at the ballot box, where hard numbers can't be spun. But if the AFP can spin a hard 51% approval down, why be surprised when it spins a soft 37% approval up?

Capitalizing on his tsunami of popularity, Jack was quick to bring in the Comeback Kid for tactical discussions to achieve that next charm milestone -- 37.5%!

* Our title has no religious content. As befits Jack, something of a stickler for laïcité, our title is wholly secular. And French.

PFFT (What is this?): Governing in the low numbers 4 | Rayonnement français 0