PAGE  1  |  2
More than trouble, such a turn could spell disaster for the RPR and its allied bloc of the center-right, the UDF, founded by former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Since losing elections last year to the leftist coalition under Socialist Lionel Jospin, who is now Prime Minister, mainstream conservatives have been hard pressed to challenge Jospin with better policies as the economy has improved. Just as bad, they have tried to fend off inroads from the far-right National Front. Some UDF regional leaders have made Faustian pacts with the Front, leading the UDF to the brink of collapse. Surveying the damages, a Chirac stalwart remarks, "At least we don't have to worry about any blue dresses. We haven't gone that crazy as a country yet." Perhaps. But with alternatives like the National Front hoping to scavenge in the wreckage, American craziness may yet seem preferable.

--REPORTED BY BRUCE CRUMLEY/PARIS