Nicolas Sarkozy: A French Paradox

JEFF ZELEVANSKY / GETTY

Chameleon With his reputation for decisiveness fading, support for Sarkozy has slumped

On a recent cover, weekly French newsmagazine Le Point featured a photo of a confounded- looking President Nicolas Sarkozy in a heavy rainstorm with a headline that read what's happening to him? Both the image and the question captured Sarkozy's transformation from a leader who could do no wrong to one whose every move seems to incite opposition or controversy — even among allies. Many of the French President's woes exist because voters are confused about what he stands for. His decisions seem to contradict each other, they complain, and his policies are often ideologically schizophrenic. "For the first two years...

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