PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy was consecrated as the presidential candidate of France's governing conservatives Sunday, and now the law-and-order interior minister heads into an election showdown with a charismatic Socialist as both try to hold fractious parties together.
Opinion polls show Sarkozy and Socialist rival Segolene Royal, who seeks to become the country's first woman president, tied as front-runners in a field that could number as many as a dozen candidates in the two-round election in April and May.
The winner will usher in a new era after 12 years under President Jacques Chirac, an unpopular conservative who has been increasingly on the political sidelines and is not expected to seek a third term.
French voters are unsettled, eager for new direction, but anxious about economic challenges from China, India and other rising nations and uncertain how to reach out to their country's downtrodden residents, mainly blacks, Arabs and Muslims.
"I want to be the president of a reunited France," Sarkozy told some 70,000 people at the nomination convention of the governing Union for a Popular Movement. "Globalization requires us to reinvent everything -- to think of ourselves as compared to others."
His speech struck a conciliatory tone unusual for a man known for blunt talk and, critics say, obstinacy.
"I'll need -- and France will need -- everybody here," Sarkozy said as the $4.5 million, U.S.-style political convention began, standing among enormous television screens and crowds of banner-waving fans.
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.
In his speech, he touched on education policy -- often seen as a Royal strength -- with a call for a monthly stipend for students to get jobs training. He called the U.S.-led Iraq war "a mistake," though he is also been the most vocally pro-American of France's politicians.
Sarkozy, the 51-year-old son of a Hungarian immigrant, ended up as the only candidate in his party's nominating vote. Nearly 70 percent of the party's 330,000 registered members cast ballots, primarily via Internet, and all but a few thousand were for Sarkozy.
Although he isn't likely to run, Chirac remains a wild card for Sarkozy. The 74-year-old president, the party's founder and one-time Sarkozy mentor, was notably absent from Sunday's convention.
Chirac's main ally, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, also remains cool toward Sarkozy. A few cries of "Dominique!" rang out as Villepin arrived at the convention, only to be drowned out with shouts of "Nicolas, president!"
The nomination capped a revival for Sarkozy, who was cast into the political wilderness in 1995 after he supported Prime Minister Edouard Balladur for the presidency in a race won by Chirac. His comeback began when he was named interior minister in 2002 and gained popularity for cracking down on crime.
But he has drawn criticism from party traditionalists who accuse him of trying to appease the far right.
That is Sarkozy's chief challenge: Keeping the center-right on board while also stemming defections to far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who shocked the country by finishing second in the 2002 presidential election behind Chirac.
Royal, 53, a former environment and family minister, has capitalized on an "Anyone But Sarkozy" movement on the left, but she also is a divisive figure in her own camp.
She contradicted the Socialist Party leader's stance on tax increases last week and has angered many with unorthodox proposals such as military training for wayward youth.
She sidestepped the Socialist Party structure and rose to prominence quickly last year through a grass-roots, Internet-based campaign, raising questions about how much she would adhere to party dogma on issues like the 35-hour work week law cherished by many Socialists.
Aside from Sarkozy, Royal and Le Pen, at least nine other people have said they will try for the presidency. Most were among the 16 who ran in 2002. Candidates have until March 16 to gather endorsements of 500 elected officials to officially register for the election.
