France: Giscard Runs Scared

In a close election, the President is the issue

FRANCE

In a close election, the President is the issue

The scene seldom varies wherever the campaigning candidate appears. The lights dim in the hall. Thunder rolls from stereophonic speakers. Jagged streaks of lightning flash on movie screens. Then comes an apocalyptic parade of images depicting a world in crisis. Ayatullah Khomeini, mobs and mullahs. Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Pillars of black smoke from the Iran-Iraq war. Scenes of terrorist violence in Italy and Spain. "There are wars you can see," a narrator intones. "And others that are devious." Japanese-built motorbikes in front of a...

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