Nicolas Sarkozy: Vladimir Putin

Sarkozy Dept: Hostilities started in earnest when President Nicolas Sarkozy launched his campaign on Feb. 16, drawing gasps with a stump speech accusing Socialist front-runner Fran ois Hollande of "lying from morning to night.", according to Montreal Gazette. While Sarkozy has accused Hollande of trying to sound like "Thatcher internationally and Mitterrand in France," referring to the former British and French leaders, a Hollande aide has likened Sarkozy to "a cross between Silvio Berlusconi and Vladimir Putin." From snide one-liners on Twitter to eggs hurled at a caf sheltering the president, the French election campaign has taken a nasty turn, which has left many voters yearning for quieter days - and some decrying a lack of substance in debates. The tone has grown sharper as a motley crew of fringe candidates, struggling to make themselves heard above the front-runners, compete for attention on online news outlets, three 24-hour news channels and in a torrent of Twitter posts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.