Debate Turns Bitter as France's Presidential Rivals Trade Jabs

PARIS, May 2 -- Politics, personality and ability to stay cool were all fair game Wednesday night as Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal lit into each other for 2 1/2 hours on French television in the only face-to-face encounter between the final two presidential candidates.

In a format that allowed far more drama and confrontation than the staid American presidential debates, the encounter gave an estimated 20 million viewers the campaign's most intimate glimpse of the candidates who will be on the ballot Sunday.

The most dramatic exchange came when Sarkozy, of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement party, ordered Royal, a Socialist, to "calm down" after she accused him of "political immorality" during an exchange about services for disabled schoolchildren.

"No, I will not calm down," Royal shot back, her voice strained. "I'm very angry. Even when I'm president I will get angry."

Sarkozy pounced: "You're getting upset very easily and you lose your cool very easily. As president of the republic, the president has to assume very heavy responsibilities."

"I didn't lose my cool," Royal snapped.

For Eric Dupin, a political analyst at the Political Studies Institute in Paris, it was the turning point of the debate.

"People expected Sarkozy to lose his temper, but she did," Dupin said. "A political leader cannot show anger like she did. An important political leader cannot repeat that he or she is revolted the way she did. We've never seen that before. Of course, Sarkozy may have been cynical on the handicap issue and used it to his own ends, but she will also be judged on her reaction."

"Sarkozy proved he is an experienced politician; Royal showed that she's got character, but not the experience," said Dupin, author of "All the Way to the Right," a book about French politics.

How that will influence voters is unclear. While Royal was short on details, she was long on passion. And while Sarkozy sometimes seemed lost in specificity, Royal stayed focused on big goals and guiding principles, even if she could not always explain how she would make things happen.

The debate centered as much on the clash of personalities as the contrasts in their politics. Sarkozy, one of the country's best political orators, tried to convince skeptical voters that he is not as authoritarian and divisive as many believe. Royal, who has capitalized on her youthful looks and femininity, attempted to reassure doubters that she is presidential and competent.

A voter survey published by the Ipsos/Dell polling organization Wednesday showed Sarkozy seven points in the lead, favored by 53.5 percent of respondents, with Royal at 46.5 percent. Royal has not led Sarkozy in the polls since early January.