Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nicolas Sarkozy, a slightly built pretender to the French presidency, would not seem to have a whole lot in common. But Sarkozy loves to compare himself with California's "Terminator" turned governor. Both are self-made men, he suggests, from foreign backgrounds with "a name that's difficult to pronounce." Sarkozy also likes to pose for magazine pictures that are consciously Kennedyesque. There's even a shot of his young son playing beneath his desk the way John-John once played beneath JFK's.
In fact, Sarkozy, 49, is reveling in his image right now as France's Mr. America.The contrast with French President Jacques Chirac, 72, could hardly be more striking, or more calculated. Chirac has self-consciously cast himself as Mr. Un-America since leading international opposition to the invasion of Iraq last year. Can Sarkozy take him out? [Newsweek]
