There's a dire need for some fresh air in the Elysée Palace. Since 1981, France has had only two Presidents — François Mitterrand for 14 years and Jacques Chirac for 12. In the coming elections, which begin next month, Socialist Party candidate Ségol ène Royal is an iconic example of French womanhood: fecund, free and formidable. Her chief rival is Nicolas Sarkozy, the hard-charging Interior Minister who heads the conservative Union for a Popular Movement (U.M.P.). The race is shaping up as a classic fight between left and right for the center: "Ségo" stresses sharing the wealth, "Sarko" creating it. But they could end up looking more and more alike in the face of voters who want both a reinvigorated economy and a state willing to protect them.