A fresh generation of French candidates

Nicolas Sarkozy vs. Segolene Royal. The big matchup in France's presidential election is finally official, with the two mainstream candidates brandishing their visions for reviving a nation down on itself and worried about globalization.

The two contenders, who are running neck-and-neck in polls, are a study in contrast. But both Sarkozy, the 51-year-old conservative interior minister appointed the governing party's candidate on Sunday, and Royal, the 53-year-old Socialist former family and environment minister, have shaken up politics as usual.

Regardless who wins, France will have its first president born after World War II.

Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, and Royal, the first female presidential candidate of a mainstream party, have rallied their respective old guard behind them for the April-May two-round vote. Yet they also have a penchant for striking out on new territory that does not always respect party lines.

A day after his appointment as candidate for the center-right Union for a Popular Movement, Sarkozy visited his party's campaign headquarters in Paris before dashing off to campaign in western France. He is playing catch-up: Royal was named the Socialist Party's candidate in mid-November.

Sarkozy has sought to soften his tough guy image in face of a female rival.

"I have changed," Sarkozy told 80,000 party loyalists during his lavish anointment rally Sunday. He called himself a "little Frenchman of mixed blood" and took up themes dear to Royal like the value of work.

Answering critics who call him a pro-American economic liberal, he said his goal is to "moralize capitalism." Addressing demands to end the corruption that has been a decades-long companion of party politics in France, he said he wants to "return morals to the heart of politics" and embody an "irreproachable democracy."

Royal, in turn, says she wants to hear what French voters want, not impose solutions on them _ a formula she calls "participative democracy." Her campaign co-director Francois Rebsamen, quoted in La Croix newspaper in an interview to be published Tuesday, said Royal will unveil her platform in late February or early March, after hundreds of party debates nationwide.

Both candidates are appealing to a yearning by the French for new direction _ and fresh faces to deal with old problems like joblessness, as well as newer concerns such as globalization and the rise of China.

Sarkozy is running on the slogan "Together, everything is possible," while Royal talks of "desires for the future."

Their shared strength is that both offer a break with the era of President Jacques Chirac, who at age 74 and after 12 years at the helm is thought unlikely to run again, though he hasn't confirmed that.

Sarkozy, unlike Royal, has firm policy positions on nearly every subject. He has earned both kudos and vitriol for vowing to cut cherished workplace protections, championing tough police tactics in hardscrabble housing projects and deporting illegal immigrants.

He defies easy categorization in economic policy. He is a self-proclaimed supporter of the euro, but criticizes the European Central Bank as too independent and suggests that the European Union must better protect its jobs and markets from the challenge posed by developing powers like China.

He has championed free market principles and tax cuts, but also suggests that he would spend heavily on trying to fix social ills. If elected, he promises to eradicate homelessness in two years.

Royal has strayed from her party's traditional positions. She caused a stir last week by contradicting the stance of Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande _ who is incidentally the father of their four children _ on tax increases and has angered many on the left with unorthodox proposals such as military training for wayward youth.

She also has raised questions about how much she would adhere to party dogma on issues such as the 35-hour work week law cherished by many Socialists.