Dano, in the Télérama interview, says this of the de-credibilisation of Royal:
Elle perd l'élection dès décembre-janvier, par ses erreurs certes, mais parce que Strauss-Kahn et Fabius avaient semé le doute sur ses compétences. Les journalistes et la droite n'avaient plus qu'à reprendre leurs accusations...She lost the election in December-January, by her own mistakes certainly, but also because Strauss-Kahn and Fabius had introduced doubt about her competence. Then all the journalists and the right needed to do was repeat their accusations.
But there probably was an element of making her appear less serious. I know that it did not feel right writing about Ségo doing this or that when I wrote my diaries - so I used Royal. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes