The Truth About Sarkozy: Part 5

Sarkozy croit qu'il a déjà gagné: vrai

Publiquement, il a toujours affirmé qu'il se retrouverait au second tour face à Ségolène Royal et que le résultat serait serré. De fait, il n'a jamais «relâché l'effort», comme on dit des sportifs. En privé, il assure depuis longtemps qu'il va l'emporter. A son retour de la Réunion, en février, à son départ de la Place Beauvau, en mars, dans les dernières semaines de campagne, en avril, il a souvent confié à ses proches qu'il pensait gagner. Au soir du premier tour, il a carrément exulté - et sa performance électorale historique pouvait justifier sa réaction. Il a même cru la victoire acquise, au point de singer la fameuse scène de Jacques Chirac traversant Paris en voiture, la fenêtre ouverte. Sauf que Chirac, lui, avait attendu le second tour...

Sarkozy thinks he has already won: TRUE

Publicly, he [Sarkozy] has always affirmed that he would find himself in the second round of voting with Ségolène Royal, and that the race would be tight. In truth, he has never "let up," as people say of athletes. In private, he has reassured people for a long while that he is going to win. Upon his return from La Réunion [an island east of Madagascar] in February, at his departure from Place Beauvau in March, in the final weeks of campaigning in April, he has often confided to those close to him that he thought he would win. On the evening of the first round of voting, he was openly exultant, and the history of his electoral performance could justify his reaction. He even believed victory was his, to the point of aping the famous scene of Jacques Chirac crossing Paris by car with the window open. Except that Chirac waited until the second round of voting...


Kevin's note: if verb tenses in the English translation occasionally seem funny to you, please keep in mind that this article originally came out on April 30, i.e., before the election was decided.


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