STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Eleanor Beardsley has this report.
(SOUNDBITE OF FRENCH TV BROADCAST)
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY: The right is playing down the results. Patrick Devedjian is secretary general of Sarkozy's UNP Party.
M: (French spoken)
BEARDSLEY: Franz-Olivier Giesbert, publisher of La Point magazine, says the election was not about Sarkozy's policies. It was all personal.
M: The real problem is his personality. People in France, they thought that they had elected a new Kennedy. Sarkozy was so charismatic during the campaign. But since he's elected, he really acted like a Tom Cruise, I would say. We say in French bling-bling. In English you would say show-off. And I think the French electors, they wanted to finish him. And that's what they did yesterday.
BEARDSLEY: The post-municipal election era could mark the beginning of a new phase in Sarkozy's presidency, if not in substance at least in style. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
