EPISODE 9/10.
What images will remain from the 2022 presidential election campaign?
Meetings, travel, televised debate... In politics, to convince is to seduce, and especially during an election period.
Whether we like it or not, the battle for image remains paramount.
How do the candidates build their image and manage (or not) to impose themselves?
Back to the 2012 election campaign.
On May 6, 2012, as if nothing had happened, François Hollande became President of the Republic.
At 57, he goes down in history as the second socialist president of the Fifth Republic.
However, no one would have bet on his victory a few months earlier.
On May 6, 2012, François Hollande celebrates his election at Place de la Bastille in Paris.
Like François Mitterrand, in 1981. Sébastien Soriano / Le Figaro
The "normal" candidate...
One year before the presidential election, it was Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then managing director of the IMF, who was the favorite against Nicolas Sarkozy.
But his arrest in the United States, a few months before the summer of 2011 for sexual assault on a maid in suite 2806 of his New York hotel, reshuffles the cards.
François Hollande, of whom no one was suspicious, embarked on the race for the Élysée.
To step into the shoes of a presidential candidate, the chubby former boss of the PS is working on his image.
He imposes a diet on himself, puts on better tailored suits, changes glasses - more modern - which refine his face.
The one who was nicknamed "
Mr. Little Jokes
" adopts a more serious tone to appear "
presidential
".
François Hollande also builds his image as a candidate by promising to be a “
normal
” and unifying president, against the hyperpresident Nicolas Sarkozy, qualified by his detractors as “
president of the rich
”.
On January 22, François Hollande delivered at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis), in front of 20,000 supporters, the founding speech of his presidential campaign.
With this tirade: “
My real adversary, he has no name, face, no party, and yet he governs, it is the world of finance
”.
January 22, 2012. François Hollande speaks in front of 20,000 supporters at Le Bourget.
Thomas Coex / AFP
His meetings - like those of the other candidates - are broadcast live on the news channels continuously.
The campaign teams entrust production companies with the exclusivity of filming.
"
It's an additional step in the fabric of the image of the candidates
", underlines Christophe Piar, teacher at Sciences Po and specialist in political communication.
“
Journalists are considered transmission belts for candidates.
But they fight back.
"In their television subjects, forced to use images provided by campaign teams, the media reduce the speaking time of candidates to further show and decipher their strategy,"
adds Christophe Piar.
...against the hyperpresident
These images of American-style shows, veritable demonstrations of force, are also found in the opposing camp.
As below, during Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting, on March 11, 2012 at the Parc des expositions de Villepinte.
March 11, 2012. Nearly 60,000 activists came to listen to Nicolas Sarkozy, president-candidate in the 2012 presidential election. François BOUCHON / Le Figaro
March 11, 2012. Nearly 60,000 activists came to listen to Nicolas Sarkozy, president-candidate in the 2012 presidential election. François BOUCHON / Le Figaro
The outgoing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who thought he was going to face DSK, finds himself in a challenger position against François Hollande.
In this campaign he wants to put an end to his image of "president of the rich".
He poses as a savior of the 2008 crisis, campaigns on his seriousness.
But his image of "bling-bling" president has stuck with him since his victory on May 6, 2007, which he celebrated at Fouquet's, this chic restaurant on the Champs-Élysées.
"
If I had to do it again, I wouldn't come back to this restaurant since it was really the soap opera
," he said on the set of the 20 hours of France 2. François Hollande plays it.
During the debate between the two rounds, he utters this new tirade which will remain: "Me, President of the Republic..."
On May 2, 2012, the televised duel between the two rounds pitted François Hollande (PS) against outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP).
It is hosted by journalists Laurence Ferrari and David Pujadas.
France 2 / AFP
Unlike 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy cannot present himself as the candidate for rupture.
In turn, as an outgoing and “hyperpresident”, at the helm of France for five years, he is accountable for his balance sheet.
On May 6, 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the stage after the announcement of the results of the presidential election, in front of a crowd of UMP activists, gathered at the Mutualité.
Francois Bouchon / Jean-Christophe Marmara
The French choose alternation.
François Hollande wins with 51.64% of the votes cast against Nicolas Sarkozy with 48.36%.
François Hollande promises to be a “
normal president
”.
Maybe a little too much...
Tuesday, May 15, 2012. After the transfer of power, François Hollande goes up the Champs-Élysées surrounded by the Republican guard, in the rain... Hugo Ribes / Le Figaro