Pave: The Unbelievable Graciousness Of Ségolène Royal

Le jour 259 de Sarko

As unbelievable as it may seem, I do not hold anything against them.

Ségo,
the first-woman-within-six-points-of-the-Élysée™.
confounding creduility, waving off the bygones
of her detractors, her betrayers, the faint-aways,
and baring her scarless wounds
(infra)

FRANCE'S ROYAL TALKS OF 'TERRIBLE ORDEALS'
IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN

PARIS January 27, 2008 (AFP) - Socialist Segolene Royal said Sunday she had endured "terrible ordeals" during her bid last year to become France's first woman president, but added she did not hold a grudge.

... "I discovered that I was a more resourceful person than I ever imagined," Royal said in the interview on France 2 television, describing "terrible ordeals within my own camp and in facing my opponent."

"There were atrocious ordeals," she added of her hard-fought campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy, during which she came under attack from party heavyweights who questioned whether she had the gravitas to become president.

We imagine the hardest ordeal, the most atrocious, was shilling her party's losing platform to the French electorate -- ideas she did not think credible but knowingly promoted. It is called lying. It is an atrocious ordeal for the righteous candidate. Unless, of course, she is elected.

"As unbelievable as it may seem, I do not hold anything against them," she said of her fellow Socialists.

And yet the Royal camp is known to hold pettier grudges than this.

Royal also spoke candidly in a television interview about her struggle with revelations that her partner of 25 years, Francois Hollande, who is also Socialist Party leader, was having an affair:

Yes, it was hard.

It's true that to be cheated on and for it to last as long as it did is extremely difficult. I tried to cope because I wanted to protect my children and I wanted to protect the French people.

I wish Francois every happiness with his new companion.

I dealt with it. I am liberated from all that. I have no bitterness, no spite. My children are still standing. I'm still standing. Francois is still standing.

Today, the scare [sic] has healed.

We explain here why we think this well-wishing so much hooey.

Royal, 54, earlier this month confirmed she intends to run for the leadership of her Socialist Party, laying the groundwork for a possible presidential bid in 2012. ... But already several senior Socialists including former prime minister Michel Rocard have come out against Royal, arguing that giving her another chance at the presidency would result in "certain defeat" for the left.

And M. Rocard is not alone.

PFFT (What is this?): Incroyable 4½ | Rayonnement français 0