One of the important ideas behind the Republican or Democratic government is
that each person is elected thanks to his own merit and achievements,
independent of one’s origins and connections. We naturally know that this
principle works only partially, and it is always useful to be well connected,
the question is how far do these little corruptions go. Sarkozy went quite far,
which is why the issue is so big in France, it has gone beyond the political
questions and is equally condemned both by the left and the right wings.
Sarkozy’s party feels that he has shot it in the leg, or another metaphor I
heard- that he cut the very branch on which he was elected, when he was talking
about defending the ideology of the Republic and is in fact instating a politic
based on Nepotism.