FRANCE: The socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal's reputation for being a "control freak" is most evident when it comes to her own image. Ms Royal's refusal to be photographed or filmed when eating or getting out of a car is almost monarchical.
Nathalie Segaunes of Le Parisien newspaper has learned the price of lèse-majesté. After Ms Segaunes wrote an article alleging that Ms Royal's candidacy was straining her 25-year relationship with the Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande, Ms Royal demanded that Le Parisien publish an apology "with a large photograph to draw the readers' attention".
The newspaper refused, but according to Le Figaro, Ms Royal had Ms Segaunes removed from a team of journalists preparing a documentary about her for France 2 television.
Ms Royal's press attachés telephone journalists to let them know when they're displeased. Nicolas Sarkozy, the main right-wing candidate, is equally attentive to his own image, reviewing his staff's log of favourable and unfavourable coverage.
If seduction fails, he reverts to intimidation. "You! I won't forget what you wrote!" he said, wagging a finger menacingly at a French colleague during the UMP's "summer school" at the end of August.
With top advertising executives as advisers, it's surprising the candidates make such faux pas. Ms Royal's chief image-maker is Nathalie Rastoin, director general of Ogilvy & Mather in France. Jean-Michel Goudard, who ran four campaigns for Jacques Chirac, resigned as president of the international advertising agency BBDO to counsel Mr Sarkozy.
The carefully calibrated images projected by the candidates are one reason they are detested by some French intellectuals. The demographer and historian Emmanuel Todd, in a recent interview with Le Parisien, called Mr Royal and Ms Sarkozy "candidates of the void" because "they no longer stand for anything".
French politicians used to embody "ideologies that were bigger than they were", Mr Todd said. "Now there is nothing to embody. So what interests us? Their face, their private life, their style . . ."
Ms Royal will have a chance to disprove accusations that she lacks substance in a series of six "debates" with the two other socialist candidates, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Laurent Fabius which began last night.
Ms Royal was forced into participating in the forums, only three of which will be televised, by her rivals. Last week, she said she reserved the right to withdraw from some of the meetings.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, one of France's most-prominent journalists and the man who mediated negotiations prior to the debates, said they've been modelled on encounters between John Kerry and George Bush in the US and Angela Merkel and Gerhard Schröder in Germany. Candidates are not allowed to speak directly to each other, or ask each other questions.
Ms Royal's aides reportedly opposed the use of high stools because she wants to wear a skirt. The candidates will draw lots before each session to determine who gets the coveted middle position. Haggling over the décor and regulations was so intense that Mr Elkabbach accused the socialist candidates of "wanting to return to Brezhnev-era television", in a quote that instantly became famous. "We should have broadcast the preparatory meetings live!" he added mockingly.
The debates are intended to help Socialist Party members make up their minds. But if opinion polls are a reliable indicator, Ms Royal should win the socialist nomination hands down, possibly in the first round of voting on November 16th.
Voters seem unperturbed by Ms Royal's vague, evasive policy statements. This week, a poll published by Le Figaro showed she would beat any other presidential candidate if the election were held now. A Libération poll indicated that 52 per cent believe she is most able to conquer the right next year, compared to 19 per cent for Mr Strauss-Kahn and 10 per cent for Mr Fabius.