Winning by default

I agree with Paul Krugman on this:

Hollande’s victory in France is no more a harbinger of a general leftward shift than Rajoy’s victory in Spain a little while ago heralded a general rightward shift; these are just the “outs” benefiting from the fact that they aren’t in, and the economy stinks.

Sarkozy made it easier for the focus of the election to harsh economic times by behaving unFrenchly.