IT'S A PARTY, BUT NOT MUCH FUN

The city of Reims may be the world capital of champagne, but members of France’s Socialist Party who gathered there over the weekend probably didn’t feel like uncorking the bubbly. Delegates were expected to unite the fractured party behind a new leader, predicted to be the charismatic Ségolène Royal, runner-up in last year’s election that saw Nicolas Sarkozy elected. Bogged down by endless negotiations and infighting, the meeting ended in disarray. Royal now faces her main rival, Martine Aubry, who’s popular with the party’s old guard. Royal’s cause would have been helped if she had the backing of her former partner, François Hollande, who’s the current party leader, but he split with her, and more than just romantically. Uniting France’s left before the next election will be crucial in the face of Sarkozy’s resurgent popularity. Unfortunately for Royal, her enemies are already banding together under one common banner: “Tout sauf Ségolène” or “Anyone but Ségolène.”