For the first time since he was first touted as a future president, I am having doubts about Nicolas Sarkozy. Not about his capacity for the job, but about his ability to get it. A week ago Segolene Royal was invested with the socialist nomination for the presidency after a campaign in which she convincingly saw off two more experienced rivals. The country loves her. She looks great, she says things which people understand and she is a woman. Above all she has stolen from Sarkozy something which he thought he had coined for himself: the idea of "la rupture" -- or a clean break. Sarkozy's difficulty is that while he represents rupture with pain, Royal's version is rupture-light -- a cosy, non-divisive, unconfrontational variety. Guess what the people will prefer on Aril 22. On top of that Sarkozy is now the victim of a blatant campaign from the Chirac clan to cast doubt over his presidential bid. Even though he is by miles the leading right-wing contender, the Chiraciens are sniping from the sidelines, hinting at an alternative like de Vilepin, Alliot-Marie or even Chirac himself. They must know they do not stand a chance, but still they seem bent on wrecking the Sarkozy wagon. These are tough times for "le petit Nicolas". I reckon that the Chirac camp wants to provoke him into some kind of an explosion, which they can then say shows his unfitness for the job. Sarkozy already has a highly-strung personality -- can he ignore the goading?