GOOD NEWS FROM FRANCE: SEGOLENE CONTINUES HER COLLAPSE

London Times:

The shaky campaign of Ségolène Royal for the French presidency took a fresh hit today after her senior economic adviser resigned amid growing Socialist dismay over her failure to revive her run for the Elysée Palace.

Ms Royal’s team was locked in a “spiral of depression” after the latest embarrassment hit her once once-flawless campaign, said Le Monde. Adding to the Socialist woes in advance of the April 22 first-round vote, Ms Royal, 53, was booed by schoolchildren on a visit to a sports ground on Tuesday and is being deserted by stars of the intellectual world, a traditional bastion of the Left.

As Nicolas Sarkozy, 52, candidate for the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement, retained a clear lead over Ms Royal in opinion polls, the Socialists sought to play down the departure of Eric Besson, the party’s chief of economic policy.

The MP walked out on Tuesday in a feud with François Hollande, the party chief and Ms Royal’s domestic partner, over the 100-point manifesto that Ms Royal unveiled on Sunday.

Ms Royal ordered her team to focus on promoting the generous financial measures that she was promising without being pinned down on their funding.

The "spend like there's no tomorrow" play-book is typical of the Leftist dominated Dems, too - and it hardly ever causes any intra-party squabbling. This little brouhaha over spending is merely an excuse for Besson to jump from a ship that's about to sink - probably because of his own ambitions.

Anyway, this is VERY good news. It makes it even more likely that Sarkozy will win. And a Sarkozy win is important for France, for Europe, and the West. I'm praying for him.