The Resisted Rise of Segolene Royal

Did you sell your old piano?

But Royal is confident in her fate.

My sister has a nice piano.

I'm willing to spend a lot for a piano.

So far, Royal has failed to play that role.

So you can think of the neocortex actually as a massive grand piano, a million key grand piano.

She has yet to deal with the major problems of the day financial instability, Europe s sluggish growth, the Middle East and she cannot avoid them during her campaign.

How did Royal rise so far and so fast? One reason is that she is the only fresh face among those Socialists vying for the party nomination.

But Royal has so far failed to rally her camp behind her.

The anger of the Socialist Party s barons at Royal s rise was amusing to observe.

How did Royal rise so far and so fast?

He looks more reassuring than Sarkozy and sounds more competent than Royal.

Pianos with shorter and thicker string (i.e., small pianos with short string scales) have more inharmonicity.

Indeed, confronted with her lead, both Jospin and Hollande have dropped out of the race.

And Yamaha makes an incredible thing called the Disklavier Pro that looks like a nice grand piano there.

Royal s lack of program has been her strength, but it could yet be her undoing.

Ségolenè Royal has surged to the front of the pack of Socialists who aim to succeed Jacques Chirac as President of France. Nobody would have bet a single euro on such a prospect a few months ago.

On security issues and education, Royal differs from the classical left, being something of a hardliner.

If Ségolène Royal is defeated, it will not be because she is a woman, but in spite of it.

Ségolenè Royal has surged to the front of the pack of Socialists who aim to succeed Jacques Chirac as President of France.

So Sarkozy and Royal are universally expected to be the two leading candidates heading into the High Noon encounter of the second round.

The more Royal returns to the classics of the Socialist Party, and the more Sarkozy openly courts the extreme right, the more Bayrou s popularity rises.

The new consensus can be described as follows Ségolène Royal cannot defeat Nicolas Sarkozy, but Sarkozy can defeat himself.

Royal may have presented herself as a post modern politician, but it is a classical politician who seems to be winning.

First and foremost, he has found in Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy two remarkable spokespersons for his candidacy.

Both of the major candidates for the French presidency, Ségolène Royal and Nicholas Sarkozy, have called for the creation of an economic government for the euro zone.

Meanwhile, George and Billy are in Washington, D.C., where they are officers in the U.S. Army.

Whereas Sarkozy has managed to impose himself on the right without the support of Jacques Chirac, the Socialist heavyweights cannot fully convince themselves to come out behind Royal.

Royal s emphasis on the concept of participatory democracy Tell me what you want, I will be your spokesperson has so far shown itself to have limited appeal.

And we put the piano on the sweet spot of the stage in the Shrine, which has not changed since 1949, still seats 6,000 people.

So Sarkozy and Royal are universally expected to be the two leading candidates heading into the High Noon encounter of the second round.

The more Royal returns to the classics of the Socialist Party, and the more Sarkozy openly courts the extreme right, the more Bayrou s popularity rises.

The absence of an agreement between Royal and Bayrou to back the first round winner in the run off with Sarkozy largely explains the ultimate defeat of both.

Two months ago, Paris s political insiders were unanimous the presidential race was still open, but Ségolène Royal was clearly the favorite.

Until recently, Royal who now is merely the head of one France s 22 regional governments was best known as the non married partner of François Hollande, the Socialist Party leader.

It was still too early in terms of the development of French political culture for the formation of an alliance between Bayrou and the Socialist candidate, Ségolène Royal a proposal that I made before the elections.

In fact, the persistence of strong reservations about both Royal and Sarkozy helps explain the surge in popularity for a third candidate, Francois Bayrou, a traditional centrist, pro European politician.

Indeed, persistent doubts among the French about Royal s competence and Sarkozy s character are the primary reasons for his dramatic rise in public opinion polls, from 7 support at the start of the campaign to 22 now.

On the conservative side, Jacques Chirac now officially supports Sarkozy, but he may also secretly encourage his most loyal supporters to vote for Bayrou, even if there is no love lost between the two men. On the left, the social democratic wing of the Socialist party, which backed Dominique Strauss Kahn against Royal, may be tempted to align with Bayrou, too, owing to the prospect of a post electoral alliance between the center left and the center right.

On the left, the social democratic wing of the Socialist party, which backed Dominique Strauss Kahn against Royal, may be tempted to align with Bayrou, too, owing to the prospect of a post electoral alliance between the center left and the center right.

The Socialists anointment of Ségolène Royal s as their presidential candidate is an important step on the road to the Fifth Republic s eighth presidential election, which is set for April 22, 2007, with a second round runoff two weeks later.