Source: Independent, Connexion, Times (London)
Will a black American president shake hands one day with a gay president of France? Barack Obama has already taken strides towards reversing the conventional, racial wisdom of US politics.
Bertrand Delanoë described by London's The Independent as "the popular, successful, gruff, acerbic -- and gay -- Mayor of Paris" took his first step yesterday on a four-year obstacle course which could, in theory, take him to the Elysée Palace in 2012.
In the introduction to a book of interviews, outlining a market-oriented and even Blairist future for Socialism in France, Delanoë hinted strongly that he would run for the leadership of the Parti Socialiste in November and probably seek the party's presidential nomination in four years' time. He was ready, he said, to "invest my convictions and energy in my country" if "democracy and the Socialist Party call on me... to act".
The English-language French news site, Connexion, reported last week that Delanoë is the favorite candidate to take over the leadership of the Socialist Party (PS) according to a new survey.
The survey was carried out by pollsters Ipsos for Le Point magazine and asked who potential voters would prefer out of Delanoë and Ségolène Royal to succeed François Hollande as leader of the PS.
The results were split into two group of general voters and left-wing voters - and showed not only that the recently re-elected mayor Delanoë was the favorite to lead the party but also the country.
Voters were asked their preferred candidate to lead the PS with Delanoë obtaining 52% against Royal’s 40% among left-wing voters and 59% against 28% among all those polled.
The survey found that 57 per cent of French people thought that the Mayor of Paris would make a good president, compared to only 28 per cent for Royal, the failed Socialist candidate last year.
In a brief reference to his sexual orientation in his new book, Delanoë rejected the view -- often voiced in the provinces but what The Independent calls a "taboo subject for the Paris media" -- that La France profonde is not ready to elect a homosexual as president of the republic. "People say that homosexuality is acceptable in Paris but not in the suburbs or in the provinces but that's a false idea," he said. "So long as people feel that it is not a problem for me, then it's not a problem for them."
The Independent reports that national newspapers avoid this subject "to the point of absurdity" when they discuss Delanoë's prospects. The Times in London -- where personal lives of politicians are always fair game -- also notes that the French media prefer to avoid this issue, dedicating increasing space to Delanoë’s rising prospects without assessing how his sexuality might alienate a conservative rural electorate.
Blogs and chat-rooms on the internet are less cautious, The Independent's Paris correspondent writes. A typical contributor yesterday said that Delanoë was "poking himself in the eye" if he ignored the rampant homophobia, among both right-wing and left-wing voters, in the French provinces.
These days, he has his own game to focus on. Delanoë has -- London's The Times reports -- emerged as a leftist hero, boosted by hugely popular innovations in Paris, a hatred of Ségolène Royal, the failed Socialist presidential candidate, and the growing impression that President Nicolas Sarkozy could be vulnerable to a credible challenger from the left.
“I am one of many,” he said with a modesty that he can easily afford. Yet a growing legion of friends and allies is looking to him to rescue the party from Royal in time for the next presidential contest in 2012. He is expected to stand against her in the race for the position of party secretary-general in October.
“I’ve never been egotistical,” he said in an interview with The Times on a train carrying him early this month to London. “I’m attached to a management of the Socialist family that is collective and has a team spirit. The head of the team is the last question.”
Sarkozy’s slide in the polls has put a spring in Delanoë’s step, The Times reports. So has his recent re-election as mayor with a significant margin. He was buoyed by the huge success of a self-service bicycle system called Vélib (from the French word vélo for bike), which is being copied by London. It will be followed by Autolib, a similar service for cars.
Delanoë is also credited with making the city greener and likes to set a personal example when it comes to combating pollution and waste: he drives an electric car and has auctioned off wine from the town hall cellar that was too valuable to serve at any meal.
All this has gone down extremely well in cosmopolitan Paris. There are doubts, nevertheless, about how his homosexuality might play among voters beyond the “City of Light”. He does not encourage questions about his private life but is said by aides to complain of lingering anti-gay feelings among the French.
Delanoë travelled to London earlier this month in a show of support for London Mayor Ken Livingstone's bid to retain his seat. (A bid which was ultimately unsuccessful.)
Livingstone seemed in no doubt about Delanoë’s ability to capture the hearts and minds of the French: he had invited him over to boost his appeal to London’s substantial French vote and introduced him to passers-by as “the next president of France”, to which the chain-smoking Delanoë responded: “Keep cool, Ken, keep cool.”
Full article: Gay Mayor of Paris sets his sights on French presidency | The Independent (London)
Delanoë ahead of Royal in polls | Connexion
Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris and new star of the left | Times (London)