Mr Sarkozy's constant taunting of the president, unthinkable were Mr Chirac not so weak, seems only to cement his popularity among voters fed up after ten years of rule by la chiraquie.
The fact that he will publicly flaunt his disdain for paying taxes in a country that even his manager acknowledges has been very good to him (all but three of his professional fights in the last ten years have taken place in the United States where he enjoys enormous popularity) is just irritating.