SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Sex, politics, fame and public office: Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, the president and the pop star, are everywhere these days. It's the latest soap opera from the cradle of modern democracy.
Every French television news program is reporting the same story these days, while a look at the Internet or the morning papers offers fewer surprises than a croissant and a café au lait: "Are they married?" "Will Carla travel with him to India for a state visit?" "A secret honeymoon in Italy?"
The stories about the private amours of French President Nicolas Sarkozy continued to circulate (more...) over the weekend. There wasn't a single rumor or bit of speculation about the president and his new girlfriend that wasn't being printed, broadcast or downloaded somewhere in France. By this point, it should come as no surprise that the French president's omnipresence in the media has finally reached a saturation point. "It's a veritable 'Sarkonami,' a tidal wave that washes away everything in its path; his appearances are practically drowning us," the Catholic newspaper Le Croix wrote derisively. "Soon we will need only three television shows every day: Sarko in the Morning, Sarko at Noon and Sarko in the Evening."
Nevertheless, the spin doctors at the Élysée Palace continue to dream up new episodes of the Sarko Show, using the marketing rules of the previous evening's programming as their guideline. "We are here so that we can spend the next five years writing a story with the French," says Cathérine Pégard, the president's PR advisor and media trendsetter. The script for this love story between the people and their sovereign is updated daily. "To be truly in touch with the French people, Sarkozy must be as mobile as possible," says Pégard, "which is why he is compressing the episodes, thus creating the impression of doing many things at the same time, or at least more than most people." 'Sarkozy Is Busy Dismantling the Fifth Republic' >>> By Stefan Simons in Paris
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