Word: rightfully
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...should have never abandoned values that are part of our Republican patrimony to the National Front," Besson told RTL radio in defending the debates last month. The sharp-tongued Besson has slapped down his leftist detractors with mockery and insults, and even dismissed the growing criticism from the right as "café clap-trap." In doing so, he has not only shown the same defiant pugnacity that has become his boss's trademark, but has also become Sarkozy's most effective political operative handling an explosive issue. "Once he bolted the Socialist Party, Besson's very political existence depended...
...since the identity debates were announced. Meanwhile, a poll this week showed that 55% of people consider the debates "not necessary." And two months ago, 64% of respondents in another poll called them merely "an electoral tool." The possibility that this could lead to a spanking for the right in the March elections has only grown as other right-wing politicians have followed Besson's lead with provocative statements of their own. Earlier this month, a conservative mayor in eastern France used the identity debates to describe immigrants in France as "10 million people we pay to do jacks...
...children have the right to learn how to skate on ice," Murillo gushed during the inauguration of the park, which plans to receive 1.6 million children over the next month, before closing Jan. 3, 2010. "This park is for the children, because they were born to be happy...
...stealing a page from Le Pen's playbook as the best way for Sarkozy to woo FN voters to his camp ahead of the March elections, just as he did in 2007 when his presidential campaign took up anti-immigration and law-and-order platforms to win over far-right voters. Plus, Besson has argued, if you steal FN voters, you will eventually kill the party. (See pictures of the French cracking down on migrants...
...outcry over such statements - and the debates themselves - has many conservative officials worried that the topic of national identity may alienate far more mainstream voters than it seduces FN backers. If this happens, it could produce a very bad March surprise for the right -something that could cause Sarkozy to bolt from his friend's side and join the growing ranks of Besson haters in the country...