In his first campaign rally in the Alpine town of Annecy, Mr Sarkozytransfixed a crowd of 4,000 sympathisers with a highly combative speech in which he admitted committing "errors", convincingly defended his reforms, promised more and ended by laying into his adversary.
"When you tell the English press that you are pro-market (economically liberal) and when you come to explain to the French that finance is the enemy, you are lying, you are lying from morning to night!," he said.
Mr Sarkozy was referring to comments Mr Hollande made in a lunch with British and American journalists in which he sought to reassure the City of London that he would not go "overboard" in regulating the financial world, and said there were few Communists left in France.
Last month, Mr Hollande blasted the world of finance as his main "adversary" in his first campaign rally.
Polls place Mr Hollande clearly in the lead with less than 10 weeks to go before the first round of voting on April 22.
But after formerly announcing his decision to run for a second five-year mandate on Wednesday night, Mr Sarkozy last night showed doubters in his own camp he still has the formidable oratory skills that helped propel him to power in 2007. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Friday, February 17, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France is warming to Francois [sic] Hollande as 'Mr Normal' after years of Nicolas Sarkozy as president: France's presidential election may come down to a battle between bling and bland as Francoise [sic] Hollande challenges Nicolas Sarkozy. » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Saturday, February 18, 2012
