The opening salvo in the French election campaign has been fired off by socialist candidate François Hollande. In a restaurant (Chez Française) he described accurately the still undeclared candidate for the ruling party, lame-duck president Sarkozy, as "sale mec", literally a dirty guy but colloquially known as "nasty piece of work."

The president, in his distinctly cowardish style, tries to stay out of the political debate and plans to announce his candidature for re-election only after March 6, leaving him just 5 weeks of campaigning (and exposure to scrutiny from other candidates and media). Sarkozy is embattled even within his party for subordinating and humiliating the French Republic, reducing the Grande Nation to Berlin's lap poodle.