For there to be winners, there must losers.

With his co-progenitor Ségolène Royal* officially announcing her PS candidacy, M. Hollande has seen a lifetime of preparation and manouvre for high office evaporate before his eyes. M. Hollande is not unambitious, but, like M. Jospin, he is a sober party man who knows a little something about political arithmetic: The big numbers beat out the little numbers. There was no contest between him (26%) and lovey (59%).

Mlle. Royal definitely wears the bikini in the house.

FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE NE SERA PAS "UN CANDIDAT DE PLUS"

30 septembre 2006 (Le Monde) - Le premier secrétaire du parti socialiste François Hollande a annoncé samedi qu'il ne sera pas "un candidat de plus" à l'investiture pour les présidentielles, et qu'il annoncera sa décision officiellement le 3 octobre, dans un entretien au quotidien le Dauphiné libéré.

"J'aurais souhaité qu'il y ait moins de candidats et même un rassemblement autour du Premier secrétaire ou de celui, ou celle, qui aurait entraîné l'accord général (...) Pour ma part, je ne serai pas un candidat de plus car je suis au service de mon parti et non l'inverse", a expliqué M. Hollande.

[FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE NO LONGER A CANDIDATE

The first secretary of the socialist party François Holland announced Saturday that he will no longer be candidate in the presidential election, and that he will officially announce his decision on October 3, in an interview disclosed in the daily Dauphiné.

"I would have wished that there were fewer candidates and even a rallying around the First secretary [scil., himself] or of those, or one, who could bring about consensus (...) For my part, I will no longer be a candidate because I am in the service of my party and not the reverse", Mr. Holland explained.

M. Hollande does himself and his party some good. And restores serenity to his bed. Not that we're saying, we just saying...

* Happily knitted up in a pacte civil de solidarité.

PFFT (What is this?): Realism 5 | Ataraxis 4 | Rayonnement français 0