Nicolas Sarkozy's worst election fear realised with loss of AAA rating

[muriel_volestrangler]

Every cloud has a silver lining:

With less than 100 days until the first round of the French presidential race, the credit-rating downgrade in Paris will seriously complicate Nicolas Sarkozy's already difficult bid for re-election.

"If France loses its AAA, I'm dead," Sarkozy told aides in October, according to Le Canard Enchaîné. The president has staked his re-election on convincing France that he is the only person with the guts, strength and character to save it from economic doom. The rating cut will seriously dent his image as the Caped Crusader of the financial world.

Last year the Sarkozy camp defined the AAA as the holy grail of France, not just a point of pride but the cornerstone of protecting the French social model, its ever-present state and generous social safety net. Alain Minc, the economist and Sarkozy advisor, called the AAA, which Paris has clung to for 36 years, a "national treasure". Defending the rating became Sarkozy's mission as he raced between international summits, claiming he would save the eurozone and solve the sovereign debt crisis.
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With the Socialist François Hollande leading the polls and Marine Le Pen of the extreme right Front National biting at his heels, Sarkozy is under severe political pressure over the recession and unemployment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/13/france-downgrade-sarkozy-election