Word: pens
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...12th century monastery ruins. Its more recent political history, however, has given this Languedoc town a kind of ill fame across France. In 1989, Saint-Gilles became the first town to elect a mayor from the extreme-right National Front party. The National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, a perennial loser in presidential elections, has consistently placed first in Saint-Gilles. In short, the town has voted for the kind of xenophobic zealotry that for many years was disavowed by polite French society. But the first round of presidential voting, on April 22, may finally find Saint-Gilles...
...illegal aliens. But even some of his allies have questioned his campaign pledge to create a "Ministry for Immigration and National Identity"--a linkage many decry as a Le Penesque invocation of a creeping foreign menace to France. However controversial, the moves have helped "Sarko" win over some Le Pen loyalists. "The true racists will never abandon Le Pen," says Nicolas Rullier, 29, summarizing what he hears at his newsstand beside the sun-washed medieval Benedictine abbey. "But I think lots of regular people here who voted for Le Pen in the past to voice their fears and anger...
...suggesting in March that all French citizens should learn La Marseillaise). To some in Saint-Gilles, Sarkozy's allure is in his electability. "I'm voting for Sarkozy not only because I think he truly believes these policies are necessary," confides a retired Saint-Gilles farmer and past Le Pen voter who identifies himself only as André, "but also because Sarkozy has a far better chance of winning and applying them than Le Pen ever will." If that prediction is correct, this town so reviled for its politics in the past may turn out to have been simply ahead...
...Pen: A long as Jean-Marie Le Pen is alive! He has never seen politics as a job, but rather as a mission. As long as he feels France is going in the wrong direction, and needs new leadership, he'll feel it's his duty...
...Pen: When the time comes, I'll offer my vision and strategy for the future, but then it's up to party members to decide. To be honest, I'm not sure I'll want the responsibility to goes with that job. I've seen close up how heavy, at times brutal the price of those positions can be, and I'm not sure I want that...