Word: martinon
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...When introduced to the grandees of "Sarkoville" by Sarkozy himself last September as the mayoral candidate of the ruling Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) party, Martinon may have imagined himself a shoo-in. But even during that announcement, he was heckled by a group of angry conservative voters chanting "Marti-non! Non! Non!" The reason for the local resistance? Anger over having Martinon - a longtime Sarkozy adviser and current presidential spokesman - be handed the nomination many locals believe should go to outgoing deputy mayor, Arnaud Teullé. Teullé and other local UMP officials soon accepted Martinon's being...
...parachuting undoubtedly surprised and hurt some, but it served as a reminder I've got to convince each and every Neuilly voter to back me," acknowledged Martinon recently, saying his own experience as a campaigner had taught him that the best way of losing an election is taking its outcome for granted. "The animosity in Neuilly is passing, but the bar remains high, because people here expect a lot from their mayor. I never thought this would be an easy campaign - and I was right...
...Martinon had no idea just how difficult things would get. Though the UMP big guns have flocked to praise Martinon's merits during rallies, his campaign stalled. That sluggishness continued despite Sarkozy's own 21-year-old Neuilly-born and -bred son, Jean, taking on an energetic and high-profile role in the campaign. This weekend, concern that the city that last elected Sarkozy mayor in 2001 with a 76% score (and gave him identical backing in last year's presidential race) may yet snub his anointed successor began skyrocketing...
...Saturday, the daily Le Figaro published a leaked private UMP poll of Neuilly voters projecting a Martinon defeat in the first round of balloting to a quixotic local independent Conservative candidate. The high probability that backers of candidates eliminated in the first stage would vote to defeat Martinon in the second, Le Figaro contended, meant "Sarkozy has hardly any choice but to pull Martinon" from the race. The risk of not doing so, the paper quoted a presidential advisor explaining, was taking a humiliating "slap in the face." Mindful of that peril, Neuilly's UMP brass teamed up with Jean...
...voters will use the nationwide municipal poll to rebuke their President. Should that happen, candidates considered Sarkozy intimates - including Justice Minister Rachida Dati, and Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade - are at risk. But perhaps no one loomed larger as a target for anti-Sarkozy anger than Martinon. For that reason, the President must think carefully about appointing the person most frequently cited to replace Martinon as candidate in Neuilly: Jean Sarkozy...