Word: chaban
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Early polls show Giscard and Chaban splitting the Gaullist vote down the middle. In a feeble, self-serving attempt to solidify the party, Premier Pierre Messmer last week announced that he was prepared to become a "unity" candidate if the other Gaullists would drop out. His candidacy lasted a mere eight hours. Although Giscard kept a discreet silence, Chaban-in a five-minute talk with Messmer-made clear that he was in the running to stay. Paris politicians later spread rumors that Messmer had threatened to release secret "dossiers" that would compromise Chaban...
With the Gaullist leadership backing Chaban, it is almost certain that Giscard-who might have been Pompidou's own choice as successor-will seek support from Gaullist liberals and other moderates. The Communists and Socialists, despite their differing views on what ought to be the next President's program, will probably unite behind Mitterrand as a joint leftist candidate...
...JACQUES CHABAN-DELMAS, 59, is a former general in the French Resistance whose easy charm and dashing self-confidence have injected a Kennedyesque touch of glamour into Gaullist politics. Mayor of Bordeaux since 1947, Chaban - the Resistance code name that he formally adopted after the war - is also a former Premier. The perfect Gaullist? Not quite. For one thing, Chaban advocates widespread reform ("the new society," he calls it), ranging from governmental decentralization to increased social security benefits - policies that are anathema to some Gaullist fundamentalists who want to hold down government spending. Moreover, his reputation is still clouded...
Pompidou makes no secret of his disdain for his former Premier. "Perhaps I can't elect the candidate of my choice," he reflected recently, "but I can defeat whom I don't want" - meaning Chaban. Chaban, however, has picked up other important support, notably from Debré, who has endorsed him for President. As a prelude to an eventual campaign for president, Chaban has assembled a brain trust of advisers and thinkers, but so far he is deliberately keeping a low profile. Says an aide: "Why should he start taking a position on every issue that pops...
...Chaban-Delmas was forced out of the Premiership in 1972 because of disagreements with Pompidou and a scandal over his excessive use of income tax loopholes. Giscard, on the other hand, who is thought to be Pompidou's choice, is not formally a Gaullist at all but a member of the allied Independent Republican Party. Giscard, moreover, is responsible for the French economy, and, rightly or wrongly, he will be blamed if it falters in the months ahead. Both men have been quietly campaigning for months. Chaban-Delmas, the mayor of Bordeaux, has been looking to his power base...