Is this a misfire or not? Most news stories seem to think so.
Disastrous results in political popularity polls have forced Sarkozy to radically change his public image. His luxury romantic getaways with Carla Bruni to the Egyptian pyramids and exotic Jordan have deeply damaged Sarkozy’s reputation among French voters. Confidence in the politician and his policies has fallen to 49 percent, and 63 percent disapprove of his very public show of his private life.
An even more bitter pill for Sarkozy to swallow, perhaps, is the fact that France’s prime minister, Francois Fillon, dubbed “Mister Nobody” for his bland political style, has surpassed him in popularity polls.
Too bad I didn’t discover this until after I had used the much older “Jelly belly” memo story the first day of class. However, I still think that the recent Gizmodogate controversy was perhaps the best example of shifting standards in proper behavior for communicating in public. I did find that in time to use it.
