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5/2/12

French Presidential elections: Sarkozy unable to land knockout punch to Hollande in three hr TV debate

Trailing Hollande in opinion polls by six to 10 points before Sunday's decisive runoff Sarkozy needed a knockout punch in this three hour TV debate to turn the tables. It did not happen.

"Sarkozy needs to swing 1.5 million people to his side. It won't be easy, but that doesn't mean it's impossible," Bernard Sananes, head of the CSA polling institute told a TV station

The duel was carried live on channels that reach roughly half France's 44.5 million voters.

Hollande appeared more confident and relaxed through most of the exchanges, saying he aimed to be "the president of justice", "the president of revival" and "the president of unity", and copying the Obama  2008 slogan, "the president of change".

Sarkozy, struggling to keep his job, came out slugging, assailing Socialist Hollande's plans to raise taxes and boost spending, repeatedly accusing him of lying. The Socialist Hollande held his own in a fight that many expected would be dominated by the sharp-tongued Sarkozy.

Interesting was both candidates strong support for the European Union even though they disagreed on details related to the application of the EU financial pact and the policies of the European central bank

EU-Digest

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