“Our duty and my responsibility is that victory on May 6 will be felt all
round Europe as a moment of hope, of confidence” in countries like
Greece and Spain, said the Socialist, who has pledged to renegotiate an
austerity-centred EU fiscal pact towards growth.
“Give a chance to a change of politics, not just in France but in the
whole of Europe,” he said.
Buoyed by polls indicating the French feel Mr Hollande won a crucial televised
debate with Mr Sarkozy on Wednesday night, the ambience was festive beneath
warm, blue skies.
Mr Sarkozy failed to land any knockout punches in the tense almost three-hour
face off watched by 17.8 million people. Some 45 per cent of the French
found the Socialist overall the more convincing and 41 per cent preferred Mr
Sarkozy, an LH2 vote found yesterday.
“Ah that debate.” Mr Hollande said to chants of “François
President”. “The incumbent placed so much hope on it … He thought
he would eat me up in one mouthful, but I’m afraid he ended up going hungry.”
Despite this, one poll yesterday narrowed his lead to its smallest yet, with
five points between Mr Hollande on 52.5 per cent and Mr Sarkozy on 47.5 per
cent. Others put the gap at 6 to 7 points.
“If the margin continues to narrow, that indicates a shift in opinion
that could continue, and so the result could be very tight,” said
Dominique Reynie, professor at the Sciences Po university and head of the
liberal think-tank Fondapol.
But he added: “After Wednesday, you cannot say Francois Hollande could
not be a president.”
Behind since he entered the re-election campaign, Mr Sarkozy faces hostility
over his failure to keep a pledge to cut unemployment to 5 per cent and his
brash, divisive style.
He suffered a setback this week when far-Right leader Marine Le Pen, who won
6.4 million votes in the first round, refused to endorse him. He needs at
least 80 per cent of her supporters to back him if he is to win.
Still fighting, Mr Sarkozy yesterday told 10,000 supporters in Toulon: “An
immense wave will submerge all those who know nothing about the people of
France.”
“This is not the moment to try crazy experiments, it’s the time to be
responsible, serious. It’s the moment to look reality in the face,” he
told the French. “For the past four years, the world has been on the
edge of the abyss and the slightest error can send us over the edge.”
“Two days of lies and years of paying the bill, that’s the Socialist
project,” he warned.
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