"Anticipation is the best way to fuel desire," Nicolas Sarkozy used to joke when pressed by supporters to officially announce his candidacy for re-election. Now that he is about to do so, the question is whether he's still able to arouse any kind of temptation.

Following François Mitterrand's example, the president wanted to declare himself as late as possible before the first round, on 22 April. But in contrast to his Socialist predecessor, there has never been any doubt about his intentions. Taking advantage of the French tradition of the presidential new year greeting, starting with his televised address on 31 December, he has addressed all sorts of constituencies on the matter, increasingly so as François Hollande has continued to outpace him in opinion polls.