Ségolène Royal's strategy is simple: to avoid making the leadership race a personality contest

Two days before the Reims congress the issues are still cloudy. Last week party members voted for Ségolène Royal's motion but without giving her a clear lead, with only 29% of the vote. So the president of the Poitou-Charentes region is still looking for a solid majority, a scenario that looks less and less likely given the internal divisions in the party. Her rivals are moving to counter her candidacy. Lying in wait are Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, Martine Aubry, instigator of the 35-hour week and the young and ambitious Benoit Hamon on the party's left wing.

Her opponents flatly rejected Royal's proposals, each one picked apart in a two-page working document. Nobody knows what the outcome of the Reims congress will be. Many in the party are unwilling to elect Royal to a position that will put her in the driving seat to lead the party in the 2012 presidential election.