There is a sentence attributed to Nicolas Sarkozy that Rachida Dati likes to quote: "We are fully, and we are accelerating. And five weeks before the first round of municipal elections in Paris, it is clear that the candidate Les Républicains multiplies travel in the capital. Tractage in its 7th arrondissement, support for its list leaders, meetings with associations or companies, debates cafes, and numerous excursions, especially in the very popular districts. Dati swallows the trips with a certain appetite and ease.
The former Keeper of the Seals plays the proximity card, thanks to a reputation that is no longer to be done. And on which rests all his campaign. Where its main competitors promise in their respective slogan "Paris together" (Griveaux), "the new Paris" (Villani), "ecology for Paris" (Belliard) or "Paris in common" (Hidalgo), that of the mayor of the 7th arrondissement sums up very directly: "Dati for Paris".
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At a time when political cleavages are blurring, it has the advantage of "clarity" welcomes its camp: "She embodies a project of the right", "He marked Sarko on his forehead", comments one in his campaign. “Something is happening in Paris. We see it. It is linked to his personality: there is a Dati brand, ”also greeted LR boss Christian Jacob Thursday, February 6, during a Paris meeting. Yes, but still?
“The Dati campaign works precisely because it is Dati. His strategy is: I campaign on my name, in the boroughs it will follow, ”comments an LR executive, who is not afraid to describe his program as“ nothing ”. Nothing, really? "We are running a campaign without buzz, we are responding to the problems of Parisians, with four priorities: security, cleanliness, housing, family," defends a head of the LR list.
"I refine it day by day"
When questioned, the executives of his campaign who agreed to respond spontaneously cited his armed municipal police, the check for 1,200 euros per year for three years to help Parisian families move while staying in the capital, or the drop in the price of canteens .
Asked about a long-awaited program, in Les Echos Friday, Dati replied: "I refine it day by day, in contact with Parisians. Paris must be a safe, clean city where you can move around, breathe, raise your children, age serenely ”. A good slogan. "Say cleanliness, security, housing, everyone can do it," mocks an elected LR Parisian. Rachida Dati also said Friday at a meeting that she would not debate on TV in front of the other heads of lists, preferring to do so "with the Parisians". She is also the only one who did not come to talk about housing on January 31, at the invitation of the Abbé Pierre foundation. As if she was fleeing the substantive debate, alone in her corridor. An entire program.
Precision
Since last summer, Rachida Dati no longer responds to requests from the Parisian, whether it be questions about his program or his strategy. Invited on several occasions to express herself in our columns and to present her project in an interview, like her opponents Anne Hidalgo or Benjamin Griveaux, the candidate Les Républicains has, each time, declined the proposals which were presented to her addressed.