Having tumbled to record lows – amid a crumbling economy, soaring unemployment, and staggering taxation – it would appear French President Francois Hollande has figured out how to raise his approval rating. As Bloomberg reports, the Socialist president’s approval rating jumped 2 points to 26 percent, according to an LH2 poll, after a magazine reported that he’s having an affair with actress Julie Gayet. While Hollande “deeeply deplored” this intrusion into his private life, we suspect we won’t mind so much now that the poll numbers are out. This ‘affair’ strategy backfired for Clinton but may just be what Obama and Abe need…
Having fallen non-stop for a year, the first poll post-“Affair” has seen Hollande’s apprval jump…
French President Francois Hollande’s popularity rose from a record low, according to a poll conducted after a magazine reported that he’s having an affair with actress Julie Gayet.
The Socialist president’s approval rating jumped 2 points to 26 percent, according to an LH2 poll for Le Nouvel Observateur magazine. LH2 interviewed 1,018 adults on Jan. 10 and 11. No margin of error was given.
In a seven-page photo expose, French weekly Closer reported on Jan. 10 that Hollande, 59, had a liaison with the 41-year-old French actress. Hollande said in a statement that he “deeply deplored” the magazine’s intrusion into his private life.
In contrast with the U.S., where Former President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for misleading investigators about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, Hollande’s dalliance didn’t render him more unpopular.
A separate Ifop poll showed that 77 percent of French voters consider the affair a private matter. Hollande is set to be queried about the liaison when he holds his twice-yearly press conferences tomorrow.
Hollande isn’t married, although he has been in a long-term relationship with journalist Valerie Trierweiler, 48. Before that, he was with former French presidential candidate Segolene Royal, with whom he has four children. The two were not married.
Trierweiler was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 10 for “rest and for some tests,” Le Parisien reported. Her office declined to say to where she was admitted or when she may be discharged.
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via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/tG2wn7JiDxU/story01.htm Tyler Durden