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12/26/06

IHT: Ségolène Royal shakes up France's politics - by Elaine Sciolino


For the complete report in the International Herald Tribune click on this link

Ségolène Royal shakes up France's politics - by Elaine Sciolino

The shop floor of the Suchard factory on the city's edge is normally a place for gritty work and salty talk, not female empowerment. But here, even the middle-aged men seem eager to make a woman their next president. The woman in question is Ségolène Royal, the 53-year-old nominee of the Socialist Party who is turning French political history on its head by turning her gender into an asset.

To allay voters' concerns about a tepid economy, high unemployment and pervasive globalization, Royal has portrayed herself as the mother protector of the nation. The strategy is more feminine than feminist. Royal seems forever caring, prettified and smiling, as she assures anxious audiences that the country's generous social safety net will hold and that everything will be all right.

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