Sharp early exchange set the tone for a bruising debate.
When Sarkozy accusedHollande of not reining in socialist colleagues who had compared the president to Pétain and Stalin, Hollande replied that the president's camp had likened him to "beasts" and "animals in the zoo".
Several times Sarkozy accused his opponent of “lying” and “slander”.
To which Hollande replied: “You are incapable of holding an argument without being unpleasant.”
Deriding Hollande's claimthat he would be a "normal" president, Sarkozy shot back: "Your normality does not measure up to what is at stake."
Both men had come armed with a bulging stock of catchphrases.
‘You want fewer rich people, I want fewer poor,” Sarkozy said.
Instantly, Hollande fired back: “And there are more poor people, and the rich have got richer.”
One of themost memorable sections of the debate came towards the end, when Hollande was asked what kind of president he would be.
“Moi, président de la République,” he began, then repeated the phrase again and again for three minutes, each time setting out a principle that would guide him – all chosen carefully to show up Sarkozy’s faults, of course.
Hollande claimed hehadn't prepared this in advance, but the episode provoked much discussion yesterday, with many commentators of the view that Sarkozy made a mistake by not interrupting Hollande.
“Not bad,” was the grudging assessment of Sarkozy aide Brice Hortefeux.
