La gloire

We all snuggled down on the sofa on Wednesday evening with our coca-cola and giant tubs of popcorn to watch this week's big feature, the grand presidential debate between Sarko and Ségo. Two and a half hours - what a slog. Curious, reading the many comments the next day, how people see what they want to see. A blistering performance by a powerful Royal, with Sarkozy cowering in the corner. Or a flailing rant by Royal, short on detail, with Sarkozy calm and in clear command. The two moderators, France's finest apparently, kept quiet apart from occasional clock-watching. Where was Paxman?

And where was the rest of the world, for that matter? In one of the rare moments when these would-be world leaders lifted their heads up from French domestic issues, Ségo advocated boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics (in China) to deal with the Darfur crisis (in Africa). Sarko ruled out ever allowing Turkey into the EU on the grounds that it isn't in Europe.

Strangely enough, the British Labour government seems to support the right-wing Sarkozy rather than the Parti Socialiste's Royal. So would I if I had a vote. We'll find out what happens on Sunday evening.