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may be seen as a tolerable substitute to Sarkozy for right-wing people who will never vote for a socialist but cannot stand Sarkozy (there's quite a few, and many of them won't vote for le Pen or the other hard right candidates or de Villepin).

He is definitely of center-right persuasion (the "center" has been part of the right for most of the past 40 years) but he broke away from Chirac and then Sarkozy more credibly than previous centrists, voting against them in parliament a number of times on high profile votes. The result has been that he's lost most of his MP group - as they know that locally they will be elected by allying with the traditional right. Sarkozy has tried to nurture competing "centrist" candidates, who have funding and a parliamentary group - that's the Hervé Morin situation (but he's not well known and polls 0-1%)

Wind power

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 5th, 2012 at 09:03:29 AM EST
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Bayrou's support in 2007 always struck me as very shallow, and primarily resulting from Royale's uninspiring campaigning.   Any chance Villepin actually gets some play and can swallow the anti-Sarkozy non-FN right vote?  He seems the best alternative to Bayrou for such a voter.
by paving on Thu Jan 5th, 2012 at 05:07:34 PM EST
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It's one of the open question marks of this election. Villepin is also tainted by his open rivalry/hate with Sarkozy, which may not make him an alternative, but part of the same petty system they hate.

Bayrou is a 'nicer' vote.

Wind power

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Jan 6th, 2012 at 02:59:30 AM EST
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