President Sarkozy?

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France -- \nNick Sarkozy, meet America. America, meet the new face of French centrist politics. \nBefore introductions, though, note that Sarkozy is not what you generally imagine when you picture a French politician. For one thing, he can't seem to stop talking about how much he admires America. You may remember him calling the fire-starting gangs of last November "scum," and he recently spoke out adamantly against Turkey's admission to the European Union. (As a result, Sarkozy's right-of-center ways have earned him the nickname "Sarkozy the American," which isn't exactly a boon in a country where the Bush administration is only slightly more popular than salmonella.) \nThus, when Sarkozy visited America last week, it was hardly a surprise that he spoke warmly of our fair nation. What was surprising was the reception for a guy who currently runs the French Interior Ministry. (Can anyone even name our Secretary of the Interior?) Yet Sarkozy, the current favorite to win the ruling party's nomination and the presidency of France, got to speak to Bush and Condi. Presenting medals to New York City firefighters and smiling in a photo-op with King George , Sarkozy clearly demonstrated his desire to be close to America.\nDespite this, Sarkozy is immensely popular here in France. His latest book, "Testimony," a rather straightforward account of his political life and beliefs (remember Bush's book, "A Charge to Keep?"), has been a runaway bestseller, selling more than 275,000 copies. And even many of his most controversial comments are viewed positively, despite his purported aversion to "populist" politics. \nIn many ways, he runs against the grain of traditional French politics. In a country that refuses the hyphenated multitudes of America, Sarkozy boasts of his Hungarian and Jewish heritage. He has begun a not-so-stealthy campaign to discredit his current party leadership, a party whose nomination he still has yet to receive. He's a doer when compromise and endless debate are the norm. Whether or not this is a good thing, I can't really say, but his popularity among many French voters makes clear that they are ready for change in a country notoriously resistant to it.\nAfter years of bumbling by the Chirac government, with mounting immigration troubles and the crushing weight of its social programs, France has grown worried about its future, only further accentuated by the social unrest of November 2005 and March 2006. Unfortunately, as with most centrists, Sarkozy must pander to the extreme of his side of the aisle, in this case kowtowing to the disgusting, racist Front National with anti-immigrant stunts and the placement of Turkey's EU membership at the forefront of his campaign. \nYears of political stagnation have left France with a remarkably conservative political environment. Recall that the demonstrations of March 2006 were to keep the old laws in place. Sarkozy will undoubtedly be marked a "conservative," but think about what that means. A conservative is, at its core, someone who represents traditional and conventional values. In France, Sarko the American is anything but.\n(By the way, our interior secretary is Dick Kempthorne.)