She's hot, hot, hot. He's not.

JOSPIN COMEBACK FALLS FLAT IN FRANCE

September 19, 2006 (Angus Reid/CSA/Ifop) - French adults have not been particularly swayed by the return of a former prime minister to the political stage, according to two recent public opinion polls. In a survey conducted by CSA for France Info, 56 per cent of respondents oppose Lionel Jospin becoming a presidential candidate.

... A study by Ifop for Le Journal du Dimanche placed Poitou-Charentes regional government leader Ségolène Royal as the top Socialist presidential contender with the support of 51 per cent of respondents, followed by Jospin with 15 per cent, and former finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn with 10 per cent.

a) Do you favour or oppose Lionel Jospin becoming a presidential candidate?

	All	PS Supporters
Favour	32%	48%
Oppose	56%	50%
No reply	12%	2%

Source: CSA / France Info
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 956 French adults, conducted on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, 2006. No margin of error was provided.

b) Which of these persons is, in your view, the best candidate to represent the Socialist Party (PS) in the next presidential election?

	Sept. 2006	May 2006
Ségolène Royal	51%	50%
Lionel Jospin	15%	14%
Dominique Strauss-Kahn	10%	7%
Jack Lang	7%	8%
Bernard Kouchner	5%	8%
Martine Aubryy	4%	3%
Laurent Fabius	3%	5%
François Hollande	3%	3%

Source: Ifop / Le Journal du Dimanche
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 621 French adults who support the Socialist Party (PS), conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, 2006. No margin of error was provided.

Yet the Socialist elephants remain stubbornly resistant to the obvious. Mlle. Royal is even money to win. The elephants cannot win. M. Jospin recently made this curious remark:

"People feel a lack of hope. It is better to propose real left-wing policies than run after public opinion to give them that hope."

Just what does M. Jospin think an election is if not running after public opinion?

PFFT (What is this?): M. Jospin, not of this world 4½ | Rayonnement français 0